JEDDAH: The Jeddah Mayoralty has approved the relocation of a Medical Materials Recycling Factory located in eastern Jeddah to a new Industrial Waste Factory in Bahra Area. The factory has been identified as a danger to the health of residents and the environment. The mayoralty has given the operating company a grace period of one month to sign a contract with the Jeddah Urban Development Company, to see the factory shifted to its new location. Engineer Khaled Aqeel, Deputy Jeddah Mayor, met recently with the undersecretaries of the Jeddah Mayoralty, members of the Jeddah Municipal Council and a number of residents of the districts in eastern Jeddah, sources at the mayoralty told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. The meeting concluded that the factory has to be relocated because of the harm caused to the environment and the health of residents. Reports prepared by the concerned administrations of the mayoralty confirmed the danger and the need to take urgent action. Sources pointed out that the company operating the waste recycling factory was in violation of its contract because it had rented a plot of land to the factory to store hazardous waste. Mayoralty officials said the company received three warnings to vacate the place and nullify the contract, but it did not comply. It has also emerged that the company misled officials on the lawfulness of renting the site to other companies to set up a factory for the recycling of medical waste. Bassam Akhdhar, member of the Municipal Council in Jeddah and In-charge of the Information Center, said the mayoralty had prepared field reports on the factory after receiving complaints from residents. It was confirmed the factory has caused adverse environmental and health problems. Akhdhar said that after coordination with the Municipal Council, the mayoralty decided to remove the factory and shift it to the new location in the Bahra area. He said the mayoralty set up a new site specializing in collecting and treating medical and hazardous waste. He said the agreement reached by the mayoralty and the Municipal Council is considered to be a final and radical solution for this problem. The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) and a number of environmental experts had carried out an inspection tour of the factory site after receiving complaints from residents. In its report, the society stressed the need to relocate the factory as soon as possible because of the harm to the environment and the residents' health. The NSHR report criticized the factory and the lack of a plan to safeguard residents' health.
