COUNCILLORS have demanded that hefty fines be slapped against people responsible for letting tankers empty sewage waste in open land in residential areas in the Northern Governorate.
The proposal tabled by Northern Municipal Council chairman Ahmed Al Kooheji is aimed at enforcing the implementation of the 2019 Public Cleanliness Law and prevent negative health consequences of haphazard waste dumping.
According to Mr Al Kooheji, multiple complaints have been received over the years with no action taken by authorities despite repeated attempts by the council to address the issue.
“We have been struggling with this issue for years in all our constituencies; stricter monitoring efforts must be implemented,” he said during the council’s final bi-weekly meeting yesterday.
“Foul odours are spreading and there are infestations of pests such as mosquitoes in residential areas which could spread diseases.
“There are serious public health and environmental repercussions to this dumping. These tankers must empty their contents in the Tubli station and not randomly in residential areas and open land.
“The tankers must be micro-chipped to allow electronic tracking and monitoring.”
Mr Al Kooheji added that the violations were also an eyesore reflecting an uncivilised image within residential neighbourhoods with serious negative impacts. He added that a lack of a clear comprehensive plan to tackle these infractions has further compounded the issue; the plan has been previously proposed seven times over the past four years.
“There are official tenders issued to these contractors and in the terms of the contracts punishments and fines must be made clear,” said council technical committee chairman Abdulla Al Qubaisi.
“Within the terms of the contract, the concerned ministry issuing the tender must make it clear that severe punishments will be implemented in the case of complaints submitted due to this dumping.
“There must be court cases and legal action because there are serious repercussions resulting from these violations.
“The issue of public health and environmental sustainability is being ignored as stagnant dirty water is seen in residential areas without official action taken.”
Mr Al Kooheji added that several proposals have been submitted to the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE) to tackle the issue.
However, the SCE responded by saying that the issue was out of its jurisdiction.
“The main issue that we are facing is that it is unclear which authority is responsible to enforce the law and impose the fines for violations,” said council services committee chairman Faisal Shabeeb.
“There is a law in place but it is unclear who has the jurisdiction to execute the law and impose the punishments.
“There are multiple complaints about these tankers and their illegal dumping and even the Health Ministry is facing issues resulting from the stagnant water in residential areas.
“The Health Ministry, the SCE and the Northern Municipality must come together and create an effective clear mechanism to tackle this recurring issue.”
Councillors unanimously approved the proposal which will now be referred to Municipalities and Agriculture Affairs Minister Wael Mubarak for review.
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