By NNN-SANA,
Damascus : The Regional Forum of Neighbouring Countries has discussed here the institutional and legal framework for evaluating the environmental impact in Syria’s neighbouring countries and means of limiting pollution in these countries.
The three-day forum starting Monday is organised by the Ministry of Local Administration and Environment-General Department of Environmental Affairs in cooperation with the Syrian Engineers Union.
Assistant Minister of Local Administration and Environment Imad Hassoun pointed out that the Forum is part of the environmental planning for land use project which is being carried out in cooperation with the German agency for technical cooperation (GTZ).
During his opening speech, Hassoun said the gathering aims to gather experts from Syria’s neighbouring countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq and Turkey to coordinate in the field of regional environmental effects and find a mechanism for cooperation between them, in addition to discussing the possibility of establishing a common environmental information network.
For his part, representative of the Syrian Engineers Union Saad Ahmad pointed out that the Union has undertaken to handle environmental issues in cooperation with the ministry via a memo of agreement, which stipulates for training experts in evaluating environmental effects and organise environmental studies.
In turn, Director of the Environmental Effects Evaluation Programme at the General Department of Environmental Affairs Manal al-Saqqa underlined the ministry’s instructions for handling environmental issues in Syria’s neighbouring countries, stressing the importance of forming a joint committee or a regional network, in addition to assigning national coordinators and liaison points to facilitate communication in relevant issues.