Solid, liquid waste expected to rise

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 18: An environmental study conducted by the Environment and Urban Development Department of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) revealed that the Kuwaiti environment is exposed to high levels of pollution due to the nature of the country, its potential, its geographical location, its management mechanisms and its violations by human practices, reports Annahar daily.

The rapid increase in the population census and the rapid development in urban, industrial and social fields have led to a significant increase in pollution rates due to the increase in the number of vehicles and the expansion of industrial facilities.

The problem of solid and liquid waste from human activities is expected to increase. On the other hand, the oil sector seeks to raise its production capacity to 4 million barrels per day by 2020, an increase of 100% from current production, and increase the rates of gas production through exploratory activities.

The sources stressed that air pollution is one of the most important environmental problems in Kuwait, pointing to the increasing concentration of some pollutants beyond permissible standards, such as dust storms and suspended particles, gases, hydrocarbon vapors, volatile organic compounds, ammonia and lead dust.

The sources noted the spread of unpleasant odors due to the presence of different levels of concentration of hydrogen sulfide gas above the minimum permissible concentration that gives a sense of the smell caused by this gas (0.5 part of the billion).