UAE cement, quarry plants to promote greenery

Cement factories and quarry plants will be obliged to develop special health, safety and environmental system and keep a record of these activities, according to a ministerial order issued on Monday by Dr. Rashid Ahmed bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water. The order issued on Monday is aimed at streamlining the activities of cement plants nationwide. It orders the factories to plant trees to cover at least 5 per cent of the external borders and form a green belt around the plant. "Cement factories should monitor and follow up health and safety activities related to the environment in their surroundings. The provisions of the resolution are applicable on all existing and new cement factories across the country, taking into account the decisions issued by the competent authorities," a ministry spokesman said. The resolution obliges the cement plants to prepare a report assessing the environmental impact by an environmental consulting firm with specialised experience in the cement industry, according to the environmental impact assessment system for the factories. The resolution also obliges the factories to measure the amount of dust inhaled in ambient air, using the factory competent hardware and send monthly reports for monitoring the quality of air and particles, in addition to the flue gas to the Ministry and the competent authority. It calls for monitoring measurements to control the operations of furnace gases continuously and taking continuous measurements on a regular periodic monitoring every six months to identify the material concentrations of metals and their compounds. The resolution obliges the plants to assess vehicles every six months using the maximum operational capacity of the plant and under the operating conditions. The resolution obliges the use of special techniques to control the volatile dust emissions, resulting from the operations of the plant and weather conditions, using the equipment and control systems.