Saudi Arabia: Up to 20 million fine for polluting marine waters

Dubai: Anyone found polluting marine waters and aquatic environments would be fined up to SR20 million, an official at the National Center for Environmental Compliance announced yesterday.

The National Center for Environmental Compliance issued the executive regulations for the sustainable management of the marine and coastal environment, as per a decision by the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA).

The executive regulations established a set of rules, provisions, and controls that ensure the protection of the marine and coastal environment from deterioration and pollution and the prevention of damage, whether in the internal waters, the territorial sea of the Kingdom, the adjacent area to the special economic zone or the continental shelf.

The Center spokesperson Abdullah Al Mutairi explained that the regulation reflects the Kingdom’s keenness to maintain a clean, sustainable, and pollution-free marine environment, preserved from environmental degradation.

He added that the regulation took into account the international and regional agreements ratified by Saudi Arabia related to protecting the marine and coastal environment from deterioration and pollution, and in coordination with The General Authority for Ports (MAWANI) and the Public Transport Authority to inspect ships and run the necessary tests and measurements to ensure compliance with international maritime conventions and treaties.

“The regulation includes a table of penalties against whoever violates the regulations and rules, which amount in some cases to SR20 million, taking into account the distribution of enforcement roles to the Environmental Compliance Center and all relevant environmental center.”

“The most prominent of what was stated in the regulation is the preparation and implementation of a program to monitor pollution in the waters of the Kingdom, in addition to preparing environmental controls related to anti-adhesion of impurities regulations, and preparing environmental controls for different means of marine, and controls for the issuance and renewal of environmental licenses and permits for activities in the marine and coastal environment.”