Remarkable Achievements of Department of Radiation and Chemicals Protection at MME

Ministry of Municipality and Environment

QNA

The Department of Radiation and Chemicals Protection at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) has made remarkable and significant achievements in all the specializations and tasks undertaken by its various departments.

During a press conference today, the Director of the Department Abdur Rahman Yusuf Al Abdul Jabbar, reviewed these achievements at the national, regional and global levels, and cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in terms of implementing national projects for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, as well as being the national point of contact with relevant international bodies and organizations.

Abdul Jabbar stressed that thanks to all these efforts and achievements, the State of Qatar has become one of the leading countries in the fields of radiation protection and dangerous chemicals and has a regional laboratory at the global level regarding radiological measurements, and Qatar has become one of the best countries in the world that has a strong system in the field of warning. It is one of the prominent countries that use nuclear and radiological techniques in related fields, as well as having a comprehensive legal framework on restrictions on materials containing mercury.

He indicated that Qatar has also demonstrated its commitments with regard to substances harmful to the ozone layer, with the availability of modern and advanced equipment for controlling radioactive materials and a regional laboratory at the global level specialized in radiometric measurements, as well as one of the first countries that have a strong structure regarding standards for workers in the refrigeration sector. and conditioning, provided that, during this year, a clear and comprehensive plan for dealing with organic pollutants will be presented.

For his part, the Assistant Director of the Department of Radiation and Chemicals Protection Abdullah Al Muraikhi, spoke about the most important national plans and important projects that the department has been keen to accomplish recently, pointing to the implementation of a national plan for inventorying mercury quantities, in addition to the plan of the early warning network for radiological monitoring.

In addition, the Head of Hazardous Materials Section Mona Al-Emadi, discussed, during the press conference, the section's achievements, the most important of which is the transition from paper transactions to the electronic system, and the facilities and advantages that resulted from this achievement in terms of speedy inspection at state ports and inspection of shipments entering the country, and facilitating the customers and assist them in completing their transactions, and in checking and releasing shipments.

For her part, the Head of the Hazardous Waste Department Asma Al-Mutawa, also spoke about the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the State of Qatar's accession to it in 1995, and cooperation with companies in terms of putting forward proposals, overcoming difficulties, and publishing reports, including with regard to oils and used batteries and their harmful effects on human health and the environment.

The speakers discussed, each in his field of competence, the environmental agreements that Qatar has acceded and ratified, such as the Basel Convention, the Vienna Convention of 1985 on the Protection of the Ozone Layer, and the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, The Rotterdam Convention and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which entered into force in 2017.