Albawaba.com
Ajman
Civil institutions in the United Arab Emirates are demanding that the government do more to protect the environment and to activate the environmental protection laws.
The institutes called for tougher preventive measures and stricter punishment for any individual or company, responsible for an environmental disaster. The institutes said government should intensify regional water surveillance and coast guards along the borders should watch for ships arriving from disease-ridden countries.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is constantly exposed to pollution, especially in its ocean and ocean area. Many oil tankers pass through UAE waters leaving behind leaks and spillage, which activists say are the main causes of environmental disasters.
The UAE scare came when a decline of oxygen in the waters of nearby Oman caused several tons of fish to die. Although the lack of oxygen was not caused by an environmental disaster, the UAE began reexamining its environmental practices and procedures.
However, the Emirates have had their share of environmental disasters. In 1989, an oil tanker sank near the shores of the emirate of Ajman. The government spent more than $50 million to clean up the spillage that spread to most of the Emirates shores. The disaster caused losses in fish resources, considered very important to the UAE, and jeopardized the drinking water of the UAE.
Most of the UAE drinking water is processed ocean water.
The UAE environmental protection law was issued in 1998 and several workshops, seminars, and special environmental committees were established. The UAE has been very active in regional and international efforts against pollution. UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan was named “Man of the Environment” in 1993 for his environmental protection efforts.
Still, institutes say that is not enough and government must do more to protect the environment, specifically concerning preventive measures and criminal prosecution.
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