Mayor of Amman, Engineer Omar Maani attended this week a special lecture organized by the Greater Amman Municipality on the sustainable protection of environment and ways to manage solid wastes.
The lecture, which was attended by members of GAM Council, came as part of the efforts by the municipality to find proper solutions for solid wastes in Amman. It also highlighted the cooperation between the public and private sectors through their institutions, notably the Ministry of Environment and the related companies and corporate businesses. Both sectors will have to find better alternatives to solve the mounting loads of wastes in the capital, and to propose ideas to handle the dangerous medical wastes.
Dr. Hamza Mughrabi, director of EBC Company specialized in environmental issues, briefed the audience about the results of a recent study that was conducted by the company, along with the recommendations and advantages that may help in providing the drastic solutions to manage the solid wastes in the capital. Such ideas include utilizing certain pieces of lands and dump the wastes at one place. Mughrabi also noted that by using special techniques and technology man can produce an organic fertilizer from the solid wastes to help farmers and revitalize the agriculture in the country. He said that such fertilizers can support the treated waste water to irrigate farms.
The study figured out that waste dumps in the country are mostly unhealthy and harm the environment. It said that wastes should not be burned but rather sorting them out by special techniques. It also called for daily treating of waste water.
Mughrabi said a study by the Columbia and Yale Universities ranked Jordan on 85 among 142 countries in the world, on the environmental scale. Jordan was good in terms of purity of air and water, soil, and biodiversity.
On the environmental pressures, Jordan came at 105 due to mounting pressures on its environment, especially in the urban areas. As for the human injuries, Jordan was ranked at 51, and 47 for social capacity and interaction with environmental issues. The study put the Kingdom on the 59th position in terms of its cooperation with world countries on environment and minimizing the global warming effects. The study also discussed the impacts of solid wastes on environment and the biological balance.
GAM has invited Mughrabi to learn more of his knowledge and expertise in enhancing the sustainable environmental development.