The Kuwait Environment Protection Society issued a press release commenting on the announcement by the head of the Technical Committee in the Municipal Council, Dr. Hassan Kamal, regarding “the committee’s initial approval of the establishment of a marine bridge linking Al-Mutlaa City to Kuwait City, and the emphasis on the importance of the proposal, especially with the expected population growth in the new housing cities, and the invitation to the Roads and Environment Authority, the Traffic Sector in the Ministry of Interior, in addition to the Structural Plan Department in the Municipality to discuss the details of the proposal.”.
The Kuwait Environment Protection Society had previously launched the «Kuwait Bay Life» initiative in 2016, calling for the mobilization of efforts by concerned parties to address the pollution of its waters with plastics and other challenges facing the preservation of its cleanliness and protection, and calling on citizens, residents and all parties to interact positively with the initiative in order to preserve and protect it, its components and natural and environmental habitats, and its status as a major economic resource for drinking water and desalination plants, in addition to its coastal, beach, recreational and commercial importance.
The Environment Society added in its statement: “The importance of Kuwait Bay lies in the fact that it is an economic, environmental, natural, ecological and geographical area for the State of Kuwait, and most importantly, it has been classified in the Environmental Protection Law as an area and environment of a special nature, as it is considered a meeting point between the marine ecosystem and the terrestrial ecosystem, and the second largest fish nursery in the world. It is also considered a suitable and safe area for the breeding and nursery of shrimp, and a habitat for migratory birds due to its warm climate, in addition to the availability of food and water.”.
She stressed, “It seems that today we are in dire need of reminding ourselves of the goals of this initiative and campaign to keep environmental issues in mind at all times. The slow currents within the bay cannot tolerate the presence of construction obstacles in this limited area, which causes an impact on the movement of water circulation and renewal in Kuwait Bay, which affects the accumulation of heavy metals and affects the nutrients and their levels in the water column, thus affecting the fish stock.”.
She pointed to the most prominent and important reasons for preserving and protecting Kuwait Bay, which are represented by the large fish stock, which represents a major resource for food security in the country, noting the national efforts made towards the bay, most notably the allocation of a national committee concerned with it that includes the concerned and related authorities, as well as allocating Chapter Five (Biodiversity), Section Three, Articles 108, 109 and 110 of the Environmental Protection Law.
The Environmental Protection Association continued, “Perhaps the most important point of convergence between Articles 108 and 110 of the Environmental Protection Law No. 42 of 2014 and amended by Law No. 99 of 2015 is that it is not permissible to commence any projects within the bay except after obtaining the approval of the Supreme Council for the Environment, which is not currently available due to the Council not being formed and its work being suspended for a considerable period. Also, the Supreme Council for the Environment does not decide on approval or non-approval except after obtaining studies of the environmental impact and the opinion of the Public Authority for the Environment, as the decision is linked to its recommendation regarding the project’s impact on Kuwait Bay.”.
In its statement, the organization called for the preservation of Kuwait Bay, stressing the importance of sustained interaction with individual, collective and institutional responsibility towards it, in consideration of the interests of future generations, as it represents economic, environmental, natural, ecological and geographical importance to Kuwait.
