Kuwait Times

Published Date: August 29, 2009

KUWAIT: The number of polluted areas in Kuwait's coastal waters has increased sharply due to the recent breakdown at the Mishref sewage plant, which has led to large amounts of raw sewage being dumped directly into the Gulf, according to Saleh Al-Mehdi, the Director General of the Environment Public Authority (EPA).

The EPA head made his comments while talking about a new map designed to show residents which areas of the coastal waters are safe for swimming and fishing and where these have activities have been banned to protect people's health.

Al-Mehdi said that the waters off Fahaheel had been assessed as being pollution-free when they were tested on Wednesday, adding that the authority is continuing to take regular samples of the coastal waters to determine the magnitude of the marine pollution levels and inform the relevant government departments accordingly.