By Mohammed Dawood
JEDDAH – Sewage dumps play a big role in causing environment pollution along Red Sea coasts as they produce toxic algae that could kill fish and other marine creatures, said Dr. Ziad Abu Gharara, secretary general of the Regional Authority for Environment Protection of Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
However, he pointed out that environment pollution could not be found in all the Kingdom’s coastal areas. “We cannot generalize the presence of pollution in the Kingdom’s coasts,” Abu Gharara said while speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette.
The quality of water and marine along Saudi coasts is good, he said citing environmental studies conducted by the authority in cooperation with the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection.
“The effect of sewage on Red Sea water will depend on the standard of its purification and performance of the water treatment plant,” he said, adding that the polluted water would destroy the Kingdom fish resources and marine life.
Abu Gharara spoke about the toxic algae that grow near sewage dumps and its dangerous effect on public health. “We are working together with UN Environment Program to estimate the enormity of pollution caused by sewage plants to Red Sea coasts,” he said.
The authority has a regional plan to bring down discharge of sewage to Red Sea to zero level by 2020, the official said. The re-use of purified sewage can be done after following the best purification method with the support of advanced treatment plants, he said, adding that such treated water can be used for agricultural and industrial purposes.
He commended the implementation of a sustainable environment program to monitor the quality of water along the coast of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
“It’s a kind of floating station that would relay information about environment changes above and under the seawater through a computer system. The authority has started the program in the Gulf of Aqaba, south of Jordan, and it would be expanded to all countries in the region.
Dr. Fatoun Al-Saegh, an expert on algae and chairman of the natural marine products unit, emphasized the need to monitor and remove toxic algae, saying it would help prevent death of fish.
“Early intervention is required to stop the spread of dangerous algae, which should undergo chemical and physical tests,” she said.
Environmentalist Dr. Abdul Rahman Kammas said there is a system to monitor environment changes along the Kingdom’s coastal areas to prevent death of fish.
“The main reason for the growth of dangerous algae is the dumping of sewage water in the sea,” Kammas told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. “This can happen even if the sewage is purified as the treatment process would be generally weak,” he pointed out.
Waves will bring back sewage water to the shore and this will contribute to the growth of harmful algae that would have a negative effect on marine life, especially small fish, he explained.
