In a press statement, the Kuwait Environment Protection Society commented on what is being circulated on social media and published in a local newspaper regarding “the contamination of some types of Kuwaiti fish with plastic.” The Society stated that “there is no doubt that plastic waste has a profound impact on seas, oceans, and their inhabitants everywhere in the world, and studies have proven that plastic compounds have entered the global food chain. However, what has been published in this regard recently in Kuwait is not locally proven.” The statement continued, “We in the Society, as a civil society organization, respect Kuwaiti expertise and trust Kuwaiti research, institutions, and bodies, with their highly qualified scientific personnel and the credible and reliable research results they provide. This leaves no room or deficiency for us to rely on the expertise, research, and studies concerned with Kuwaiti affairs provided by external entities.” In this regard, the Society commended the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research for its prompt clarification of the facts and its prompt response to this matter, which has caused confusion and threatens Kuwaiti food security.
She stressed that “our role now requires us to take action to prevent such terrible results from happening in the future, as protecting the marine environment from plastic requires enforcing the law to prevent the dumping of waste, whether on land or in the sea, because the main source of waste in the sea is primarily land, at a rate of no less than 80%,” calling for “working with a serious plan towards collecting, sorting and recycling waste to benefit from it and reduce its arrival in landfills or open areas.”.
In its press statement, it considered that “we need the seriousness of the ministries and relevant bodies in issuing the licenses related to waste management urgently, in addition to supporting projects and initiatives related to waste recycling and giving them priority,” stressing that the success of this has a positive impact on “cleanliness and freeing up lands and the possibility of using them for housing and development projects, as well as protecting food security by protecting the organisms and biodiversity in the marine and terrestrial environment alike, in addition to protecting water security by protecting the marine environment and groundwater in the terrestrial environment from pollution.”.
The association affirmed that it “supports and endorses the government’s program for the next five years, which will be presented in the upcoming legislative session of the National Assembly.“ It noted that the government’s work program includes a ”sustainable cities and advanced infrastructure“ program under the “sustainable well-being and strong human capital” pillar – important items, including “the opening of the solid waste recycling complex in the Kabd area“ in the short term. As for the long term, the pillar includes ”launching and monitoring the national strategy for solid waste management by 2040.“ The association added, ”However, the association believes that monitoring the strategy should be done over ten years instead of fifteen, as these items relate to solid waste management in addition to other environmental items, which will certainly facilitate the State of Kuwait’s commitment to the international agreements that have been signed or are planned to be concluded in the future.” It called for “accelerating the file of sorting and recycling waste and establishing local factories by the competent authorities.”.
She stressed “the importance of respecting the Environmental Protection Law and not publishing news that would cause panic among citizens and residents,” based on Article 126 of the Environmental Protection Law No. 42 of 2014, amended by Law No. 99 of 2015, which states: “It is prohibited to publish or spread false news or information about the environmental situation in the country that would cause panic or doubt about the quality of the environmental situation unless this is based on scientific facts, in order to preserve social security and the state’s standing.”.
