Diesel barrels lifted from sea

Sharjah — Sharjah Municipality has pulled out 40 barrels of diesel, which were floating on the sea in the Arab Gulf, near the territories of Sharjah coast. 

Hassan Altafaaq, Assistant Director of Agriculture and Environment Department at Sharjah Municipality, said the barrels, which had fallen from a sinking ship, were collected and stored in a safe place.

He  said the municipality coordinated with Sharjah Environment Company Bee’ah and several relevant governmental entities to remove them.   The team also ensured that all the barrels were removed from the sea.  “The team took seawater samples and sent it to the municipality central laboratory to ensure quality of water and prevent pollution,” Altafaaq said

Altafaaq said that when they were alerted about the sinking ship, the municipality immediately sent a team to the sea that found 400 diesel drums floating in the sea.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Al Tafaaq said that municipality is making all efforts to protect environment in all its sites including land, sea and air.  Several cleaning campaigns were done throughout the year to clean up the sea and respond to this kind of emergency cases.

He added the sea environment is free of pollution due to continuous awareness campaign among the public to protect environment.

 afkarali@khaleejtimes.com