Director of the Department of Radiation Protection and Chemicals Abdul Rahman Al Abdul Jabbar with other officials during a press conference yesterday.
Doha: Qatar has become the first in the world to have a regional laboratory in the world specialised in radiological measurements.
A plan will be roll out this year to deal with organic pollutants.
“Qatar is the first country in the world with an integrated project that covers the whole country with a radiation control warning network,” said Director of the Department of Radiation Protection and Chemicals at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), Abdul Rahman Al Abdul Jabbar.
He was addressing a press conference held at the headquarters MME’s environmental affairs sector yesterday. The conference aimed at demonstrating the achievements of the department and introducing its services.
“Qatar will also be the first country to establish a comprehensive legal framework regarding restrictions on products containing mercury,” said Al Abdul Jabbar.
He said that Qatar has also become one of the world’s countries that have proven its commitments with regard to substances harmful to the ozone layer and have the best devices for controlling radioactive materials.
He added that during this year a clear and comprehensive plan for Qatar will be presented to deal with organic pollutants.
Assistant Director of the Department of Radiation Protection and Chemicals Dr. Abdullah Al Muraikhi said that a national mercury inventory plan and an early warning network plan for radiation monitoring have been implemented.
“The network has been updated on all the coasts of the country to monitor any radioactive source, and there is a modern network that will be implemented soon to cover all areas across the country,” said Al Muraikhi.
Head of the Radiation Protection Section at the Department Hamad Salah Ibrahim said that the section issues licences for ionising or non-ionising radiation in the medical, industrial and research fields. “The section inspects 350 facilities, including industrial ones that work in the field of oil and gas, and one that works in the fields of medicine, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine,” said Ibrahim.
During the last period, he said, the section supervised the licensing of 85 vehicles for transporting radioactive materials, 50 licenses for the use of radioactive materials, 86 requests for possession of radioactive materials, 164 licences for possession of radioactive devices and 146 import and export radioactive sources.
Head of Hazardous Materials Section Mona Al Emadi said that the licences have been issued regarding customs release of shipments imported to the country from customs check-posts. She said that a total of 50,289 shipments of hazardous materials were inspected, and 975 licences were issued for warehouses of hazardous materials. Al Emadi said that the section also issued 120 permits to dispose of hazardous waste.
Head of Hazardous Waste Section Asmaa Ahmed Al-Mutawa said that the section aims at reducing the generation of hazardous waste through the implementation of environmental laws and legislation.
