UAE seeks balance between sustainable development and environment

Minister of Environment and Water HE Dr. Rashid Ahmed bin Fahd said Monday the UAE had introduced a set of legislations to regulate the relationship between development and the environment and to ward off negative effects generated by steady growth of the industrial sector on the public health and environment.

''Despite the socio-economic benefits produced by the industrial sector, it has brought out many negatives on the public health and the environment due to absence or negligence of the environmental factor in the early stage of industrial development, ''the minister told a training workshop on environmental inspection held by the Federal Environment Agency in cooperation with UN Regional Office for West Asia.

''Environmental regulations were needed to address these negative and strike a balance between development requirements and environmental considerations,'' he added. Unfortunately, he said, commitment to these regulations is still under the expected level for two reasons: lack of well-trained manpower and absence of effective inspection systems in many parts in the country.

''In the coming stage, the focus will be on training more professionals to do inspection and follow up implementation of these regulations under the federal government strategy's recommendation for enforcing the environmental impact assessment and inspection mechanisms,' he disclosed.

Dr.Basel Al Yosouf, Deputy Director General of the Regional UN Office for West Asia, said the UAE project in this regard underlined its sincere attempt to respond to requirements of sustainable development, progress and modernisation. Around 52 environmental inspectors from various federal and local relevant agencies are taking part in the workshop.  – Emirates News Agency, WAM