The Director of Monitoring and Environmental Laboratory Department, Eng. Hassan Ali Qasimi; Head of Water Environment Quality Section, Ali Al Kuwari with research team before the departure of Research Vessel, Janan. Pic: Baher Amin/The Peninsula
The research vessel, Janan, started yesterday a three-day sea trip to study the marine environment in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) within the programme of monitoring the marine environment of Qatar.
The programme is implemented by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment represented by the Department of Monitoring and Environmental Laboratory in cooperation with the Environmental Science Center, Qatar University.
The study is being conducted by a research team consisting of a number of specialists and researchers in the field of monitoring the quality of the marine environment at the Department.
Director of Monitoring and Environmental Laboratory Department, Eng. Hassan Ali Qasimi; Head of Water Environment Quality Section, Ali Al Kuwari, and a number of representatives of Qatar University are also part of the team.
“Amid environmental challenges at the local, regional and international levels, the Monitoring and Environmental Laboratory Department initiated to work on establishing an integrated information system for environmental data based on programmes for monitoring the pollution of water, air and soil of the country to ensure that they do no exceed the permissible limits and standards,” said Eng. Hassan Ali Qasimi.
Qasimi was speaking to the media persons at the departure of research vessel, Janan, for survey at Doha Port yesterday. He said that the Department prepares periodic reports on the results of measuring different pollutants in the country and compare them to the permissible limits and set environmental status indicators to use them as early warnings in a timely manner to avoid any environmental consequences.
“The Department is currently implementing the Qatar Marine Environment Monitoring Programme, after developing and amending it, which aims to protect the marine environment and conserve its resources through continuous monitoring of environmental pollutants in the coastal areas and EEZ of Qatar,” said Qasimi.
He said that the Department will submit a report with recommendations about current situation of environment in the country to the decision makers. This trip is special because samples will be collected from within the country’s marine waters and from different depths and far from the coastal areas which will produce accurate and excellent results for the marine environmental situation.
Ali Al Kuwari said that this trip comes within the programme of monitoring the situation of the marine environment of Qatar, which was launched by the Department.
He said that this programme includes studying the environmental elements of soil and marine waters, whether shallow or regional coastal waters deep in the sites Qatari water.
“This trip is part of the programme currently being undertaken by the Department which aims to monitor 15 coastal and regional marine sites that have been identified to cover all marine waters from the shore to the country’s water,” said Al Kuwari.
