The interest in addressing environmental problems and reducing pollution is growing to preserve humans, nature and its resources.
Deputy Minister of State for Environment Affairs Imad Hassoun said the Ministry is working in coordination with the concerned parties to find solutions to ensure a healthy environment and sustainable development.
He pointed out that the ministry is cooperating with international experts and Chambers of Industry in the field of treating industrial waste water and mechanisms of choosing treatment plants technically and economically and ensuring their technical performance.
Hassoun stressed the importance of establishing qualitative treatment plants as an optimal solution for guaranteeing proper production and preserving the environment in all its forms, underlining the need for promoting environmental awareness by official bodies, helping industrialists protect their industrial plants environmentally, and addressing environmental problems through a participatory approach.
In turn, Director of Environment in Damascus Countryside Thaer al-Daif said the biggest environmental challenge in the country is the water deficit and arbitrary water consumption in addition to the poor management of solid waste, medical products and industrial waste and the resulting large effects on both man and environment.
He pointed to the big dangers that are caused by water resulting from industry since it leaks into the groundwater and is used in the irrigation of agricultures without treatment.
The environmental problems are increasing due to the waste produced by some industries such as tanning, marble factories and chemical plants as they use contaminant materials such as minerals and solids, in addition to their environmental impact on the pollution of soil and air.
Member of Damascus and Damascus Countryside Chamber of Commerce Maamoun al-Bahra pointed out that most industrialists are unaware of environmental problems and the damages they cause, stressing that each industrialist must learn about the pollutants produced by their factory and work to control them in cooperation with the government.
He noted that pollutants produced by the textile industry, particularly the processes of dying and printing, are particularly dangerous, underlining the need to establish labs for studying industrial pollution and find the best solutions that take legislations and regulations into account and guarantee a healthy and sustainable environment.
Al-Bahra said that the first steps that should be taken are using environmental-friendly biodegradable chemicals and dyes that don't produce dangerous materials when they decompose, in addition to using modern factory equipment that save energy, processing water used in dying, and treating the waste produced by tanneries.
The Ministry of Industry had issued regulations for the specifications and qualities for liquid waste produced by economic activities and the optimal use of waste water treatment centers in order to reach accepted levels of pollutants in industrial waste water before it enters the sewage system.
The Ministry also specified the materials and wastes that are not allowed to be dumped into the sewage system which include agricultural, plant and animal remains such as bones, skin, wool and feathers, in addition to petroleum and its byproducts, chemicals like mineral salts, calcium hydroxide, glue, paint, rubber, glass, cement, waste and other forms of solid waste.
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2010
