AN overcrowded industrial town filled with garages, chemical warehouses and construction companies may undergo a major clean-up to turn it into an environmentally-friendly area.
New regulations may be enforced in Salmabad in the Northern Governorate instructing industries located in the area to install emission, noise and pollution filters and buffers.
The proposal by Northern Municipal Council services and public utilities committee chairman and area councillor Faisal Shabib would also urge the industries to set-up specialist drainage of hazardous substances, liquids and solvents.
“There has been talk that garages, chemical warehouses and construction companies should be relocated to areas away from residential properties, as many people have moved to the area in the past decade,” said Mr Shabib.
“In my opinion this would be unfeasible. So let’s be realistic and present a new approach to solving the problem with stricter regulations.
“Buffers, filters and safer equipment and materials could be introduced and prevent any potential disaster becoming a reality.”
It would oblige current industries to invest in clean-energy stoves, ovens and incinerators. Also, under the proposal, companies would have to sort out their waste, removing harmful materials and separating recyclable items.
Councillors have in recent years described Salamabad as a ‘ticking time-bomb’.
“The area could catch fire at any moment and there is no real emergency plan to prevent it from happening,” claimed Mr Shabib, who highlighted several incidents in the past few months in which vehicles, garages and warehouses had ‘gone up in flames’.
He explained that environmentally-friendly rules and regulations wouldn’t just protect the atmosphere, workers and residents in Salmabad, but also ensure a greener environment for future generations to ‘breathe fresh air and live healthily’.
The council is also in discussions with the Cabinet, which will review the proposal, to tackle other problems facing residents in the area such as road congestion and improper parking issues.
“We are working to ensure residents and workers living there are safe for now through temporary measures but long-term solutions need to be found and implemented as soon as possible,” added Mr Shabib.
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