The UAE Government wants to ensure sustainable development, while preserving the environment and to achieve a perfect balance between economic and social development. To do that, the UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda focuses on improving the quality of air, preserving water resources, increasing the contribution of clean energy, and implementing green growth plans.
The Fujairah emirate, unlike the other six emirates of the UAE federation, lies on the east coast facing the Gulf of Oman. The unique geographical position amongst the seven emirates of the UAE and the mountainous topography of the Fujairah emirate, plays an important role in the economy of the Fujairah emirate. Creating and maintaining a sustainable environment and infrastructure is a pillar of the National Agenda in line with Vision 2021. The UAE Government wants to ensure sustainable development while preserving the environment, to achieve a perfect balance between economic and social development.
For that Shaikh Mohammad Bin Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah said that the UAE’s attractive investment climate and flexible legislative procedure, as well as its advanced infrastructure, have contributed to the launch of many investment projects in Fujairah.
Taking one step toward sustainable development
JSW Cement is going to do investment in Fujairah, that aims at setting-up 1 MTPA clinker unit and a captive power plant to service the energy requirements of the clinker unit. The directives of His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, the emirate has focused on investing in strategic projects that will help the country achieve the UAE Vision 2021, which aims to create a diverse and sustainable economy.
Shaikh Mohammad Bin Hamad also unveiled a memorial plaque at the project’s site, which will see the construction of a unit to grind the clinker in Fujairah, as well as a power plant to provide the unit’s needs, through an investment of around $150 million (Dh550.5 million). He was then briefed on the details of the project, which is expected to create around 400 to 500 jobs. He also expressed his pleasure that the Indian group will be part of the Fujairah plan to adopt strategies that will preserve the environment
Parth Jindal, Managing Director of JSW Cement, thanked Shaikh Hamad for his support in launching the project. “Our plan to establish this clinker unit confirms the group’s commitment to enlarging its scope of investments in Fujairah,” Jindal said.
The factory will operate over three phases. The first phase aims to produce 6 million tons of limestone, of which 1.4 million tons will be used to produce clinker, while the second phase will see production rise to 12 million tons per year, and the third phase to 20 million tons per year. Through this investment, we hope to contribute to the overall economic development of Fujairah as well as create new direct & indirect job opportunities.
Sustainable development while preserving the environment
Protection of the environment and sustainable development are topics that receive great attention from the UAE government right from the beginning. As countries across the globe marked World Environment Day on Friday, the UAE had special reasons to feel proud, as it leaped the expansion and development of protected areas, increasing from 44 in 2019 to 49 in 2020.
As Dr. Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, A parallel priority is to ensure that the country’s economic growth does not come at the expense of the environment. The ministry has also updated the list of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, IBAs, in the country and launched the national ecotourism project “The UAE’s Natural Wonders”.
The problem of pollution in the villages of Fujairah has been also taken care of as the Families living near a quarry in Ras Al Khaimah say that incessant explosions and plumes of dust are affecting their health and damaging their homes. The villagers near limestone quarrying, families say some of the children have developed chronic coughs and respiratory problems because of the dust.
So the government has started air monitoring equipment that travels around the villages weekly to check the air quality, they are being offered fully-furnished two-bedroom villas in Al Dhait Janubi by the government and a recorded 16 percent drop in suspended particles and dust in the last year. The government has put very strict rules on time of operation. We have rejected licenses for quarries, stopped quarries or canceled operations.
On this year’s World Environment Day, the UN has drawn links between the health of the planet, and human health, and the importance of protecting biodiversity, the system that supports life.
At least 70 percent of emerging infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, are crossing from the wild to people, and transformative actions are urgently required to protect the environment and human rights.
This was a loud and clear message from David Boyd, the independent UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment. Countries certainly need to take urgent action to protect the environment and stop climate disruption, biodiversity loss, toxic pollution, and diseases that jump from animals to humans.