CLEARING THE AIR: Egypt marked last week's World Environment Day with a renewed commitment to cleaner air, reports Mahmoud Bakr . Beginning in Giza and Qalyoubiya, all vehicles on the road will be subject to traffic inspection checks for excess pollution levels.
The celebrations began at the Ministry of Environment, where Prime Minister Atef Ebeid was on hand to observe a practical demonstration of the state-of-the art equipment that will be used to gauge the exhaust of gasoline and natural gas powered vehicles.
These tests, combined with the conversion of automobiles from gasoline to natural gas (some 40,000 cars are already operating on natural gas), will significantly reduce the dangers faced by the environment as a result of automobile pollution. Traffic authorities will not issue or renew a vehicle's license if the concentration of pollutants in its exhaust exceeds the level stipulated in the Environment Law's Article 37.
The prime minister also observed the signing ceremony of the cooperation protocol between the Ministries of Environment and Local Development, for the provision of technical support to governorate offices of environmental affairs. Minister of Local Development Mustafa Abdel- Qader and Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Mamdouh Riad signed the protocol.
Efforts will initially focus on improving the performance of the environmental affairs offices in Giza, Aswan and the Red Sea, Riad said, with the ministry providing training for the environmental authorities in these governorates to help optimise their use of the environmental affairs department's laboratories and tools.
Riad said the protocol provided for effective participation in the creation of environmental protection plans and in the implementation of such programmes as the development of green areas and garbage recycling.
In general, great progress had also been made in developing the nation's green areas, said the prime minister. Laws needed to protect agricultural land from encroachment and illicit construction have been put into place. The government has managed to generate an additional two million acres to Egypt's share of agricultural land, and is in the process of implementing projects to farm canal banks and desert areas, plant more trees in the cities and create a central nursery in every village. All of these measures were approved at a recent Council of Governors meeting.
