Closure of stone crushers in RAK

RAS AL KHAIMAH — The RAK Environment Protection and Industrial Development Commission (EPIDC) has ordered the closure of two rock crushers after they were found not conforming to environment-friendly standards set by the governmental body. The two facilities, located at Wadi Asfeni, were found being operated without covering their production units in violation of the rules laid down by the EPIDC. The construction materials industry is considered to be the main economic activity in RAK and the emirate has 11 working crushers and 12 are under construction, besides four cement factories.

 "We had given all the crushers in the emirate the August 25 as an ultimatum to implement the new procedures in an attempt to reduce the particulates and gases emissions arising from them," EPIDC official, who requested anonymity, told Khaleej Times Environmentalists as well as the public raise great concern about the impacts of the waste and refuse of the crushers and cement factories in RAK and the environmentally harmful effects on the emirate’s air quality.

"The new standards has helped reduce airborne pollution much below the international standards, the later state that particulates should not exceed 150 microgram in 48 hour," he added. “By implementing the new tough regulations, we are no-longer in problematic situation regarding conservation of environment as the case was few years ago and we are definitely much below the required air-quality level," he added. The EPIDC has also ordered the construction materials industries to have purpose-built warehouses for their raw materials, use bag house filters and covered belts instead of heavy machines like loaders, trucks and bulldozers. The commission is also working in the spheres of landscaping and building roads to reduce the amount of dust and air-pollution in the area.