Dr. Yasmin fouad, Minister of Environment, announced the details of the safe disposal of about 470 tons of high-risk and abandoned pesticides that were stored in one of the stores in al-Saff areaoat Giza governorate announced that, during a ceremony organized by the Ministry of Environment through its Sustainable Management of PoPs project, in the presence of Oliver Brade, the World Bank representative and Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Abdel Majid representing the Ministery of Agriculture and a number of members of the House of Representatives environmental experts.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad,said that the ministry was concerned in parallel to the disposal of high-risk stored pesticides, securing their storage until they are disposed of in order to ensure the safety of citizens in the region, which drew the attention of Dr. Mustafa Kamal tolba , environmental scientist, pointing out that the elimination of these pesticides and hazardous materials was a time bomb for 30 years, and that this achievement confirms our ability to face the problem of management of solid wastes, which is less dangerous.
The Minister reviewed the efforts of the Ministry of Environment to safely dispose of hazardous waste, which is a major challenge, as the Ministry is currently working on the completion of the strategy of integrated management of hazardous wastes, and the implementation of our international obligations in the Stockholm and Basel Conventions, in addition to working to raise the awareness of the citizen who is a key partner, and we offer him an alternative and this has been taken into account when preparing the strategy of managing electronic waste that will be launched soon.
She added that work is being done with all partners, including the Ministry of Communications, regarding the safe disposal of electronic waste, the Ministry of Health for safe disposal of medical waste, and we are cooperating with the Ministry of Electricity to dispose of some transformer oils, and to dispose of the remaining part of pesticides in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture.
Fouad explained that the goal of this achievement is not only an international commitment but to preserve the health of the citizens, which is the main concern of the Ministry of Environment, praising the fruitful cooperation with the partners in this achievement, both the Ministry of Agriculture and the World Bank and the International Environment Facility, and the support of the deputies for the environment to become a way of life, and the role of environmental scientists in transferring expertise and building capacity in the field of environment.
For his part, the Representative of the World Bank thanked and praised the efforts made by the Egyptian government and the cooperation between the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture in this great achievement, one of the most important outcomes of which is the construction of Egyptian resources to deal with these pollutants without the need for cadres from abroad, hoping to complete the cooperation.
Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Abdel-Magied, Chairman of the Pesticides Committee, in a speech delivered on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture that the achievement in the disposal of pops is unprecedented, and praised the ministry of environment's important role in managing that integrated system as a major reason for this success, pointing out that Egypt has stopped importing this type of pollutant since 1972, but as a result of the accumulation of these pollutants and indiscriminate use of them over the years it was necessary to get rid of el saff contents ,he added ,The remaining 300 tons of pollutants will be finally disposed of.
It is worth mentioning that Egypt succeeded in the safe disposal of about 470 tons of high-risk and abandoned pesticides that were stored in one of the stores in the alsaff area of Giza, in addition to all the waste resulting from the implementation of this process to move these pesticides and wastes and burn outside Egypt in private ovens in both Sweden and France, and the saff store was completely cleared to restore the environment and live in a place that is not bothered by it and worry.