Council committee evaluates efforts to curb marine pollution

MUSCAT, JULY 8 - The Social Committee of the State Council, which reviewed on Monday the Law on Marine Pollution Control issued by Royal Decree No 34/74, hosted Dr Saud bin Hamoud al Habsi, Under-Secretary for Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Abdul Aziz bin Said al Marzouqi, Director General of Fisheries Resources at the ministry, and Dr Abdullah bin Hamad al Nahdi, Director of Marine and Fisheries Centre.

Holding its 8th meeting for the 4th annual session of the 6th term, the committee meeting was headed by Dr Hamad bin Sulaiman al Salmi and attended by the panel members and the Secretariat staff. The committee discussed a number of issues related to the study: the ministerial efforts in the field of awareness programmes, marine security and safety requirements, procedures regulating work, coordination and data efficiency, measurement tools and institutional readiness, strategies and legislation as well as practical proposals to reduce marine pollution.

Discussions also focused on the level of legislative activation of relevant international and regional agreements and partnerships, and the adequacy of national legislation in force in the field of maritime pollution, and the most important challenges in this area and the proposals of the ministry to address them.

COUNCIL SESSION: The State Council will hold on Tuesday its 16th Regular Session to discuss the proposal of ‘Reality of services provided by sports clubs and ways of benefiting from them to serve the community’, presented by the Social Committee.

The Council will also discuss the proposal submitted by the Special Committee on ‘The promulgation of a law regulating the use of biotechnology and its products and the protection of genetic data in the Sultanate’.

State Council Chairman Dr Yahya bin Mahfoudh al Mantheri will preside over the meeting, which will be participated by the members and the Secretary-General.

The Council will hold its 17th ordinary session on Wednesday, during which it will discuss the proposal on the “framework and determinants of the draft law of public debt” submitted by the Economic Committee, in addition to other reports.