VZCZCXYZ0015
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKU #0052/01 0160851
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160851Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8054

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000052 
 
SIPDIS 
 
INFO GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 
CDC ALANTA PRIORITY 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OES/STC, NEA/ARP, AIAG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SENV ENRG TBIO IZ KU
SUBJECT: OES A/S MCMURRAY TALKS ENVIRONMENT, AVIAN FLU, AND 
POLIO WITH KUWAITIS 
 
REF: KUWAIT 39 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  On January 10, Assistant Secretary for 
Oceans, Environment, and Science Claudia McMurray met with 
Meshal Al-Meshan of the Kuwait Environmental Protection 
Society (KEPS), Captain Ali Haider of the Environment Public 
Authority (EPA), and Assistant U/S of Health Ali Al-Saif to 
discuss environmental issues in Kuwait.  The meetings took 
place on the margins of the regional Women Leaders in 
Science, Technology, and Engineering Conference held in 
Kuwait January 8-10.  Al-Meshan was critical of the GOK's 
environmental record, noting that the Environment Public 
Authority (EPA) Director position has been vacant for several 
months and the parliamentary environment committee formed in 
2006 has never met.  Al-Meshan said the GOK addresses 
Kuwait's high levels of water consumption by building more 
desalination plants but does not work to combat wasteful 
consumption, and he argued for a consumer education campaign 
to limit water wastage.  The EPA's Haider said Iran's Bushehr 
reactor is a major concern for the GOK from an environmental 
point of view.  Kuwait, he said, still suffers from polluted 
coastal areas resulting from the 1991 oil fires, and that 
chemical leakage from wrecked vessels is an ongoing concern. 
Haider conceded that desalination causes marine pollution, 
and that there is not likely to be a change on the ban of 
treated wastewater in the drinking supply.  Al-Saif said the 
GOK has set-up an interministerial committee to combat Avian 
Influenza, and no cases have yet been detected in Kuwait.  At 
A/S McMurray's urging, Al-Saif said he would raise possible 
funding for polio eradication with the Minister of Health. 
(Note:  U/S Dobriansky raise polio eradication separately 
with the Foreign Minister, who suggested that UNICEF approach 
the GOK.)  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On January 10, A/S McMurray met with Professor 
Meshal Al-Meshan of the Kuwait Environmental Protection 
Society (KEPS) on the margins of the Women Leaders in 
Science, Technology, and Engineering conference, which 
brought together female scientists and educators from all 
over the Middle East and the United States (reftel). 
Al-Meshan runs KEPS (a Kuwait NGO for the environment and a 
2006 MEPI grant recipient) part-time as a volunteer and works 
at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. 
Al-Meshan said KEPS visits more than 100 Kuwaiti schools each 
year to engage students about the environment, and partners 
with Kuwait University to raise public awareness.  KEPS, he 
said, is also involved in a study with the Arab Fund and the 
University of Jordan to compare water sectors in the GCC 
countries. 
 
Government is the Big Polluter 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Al-Meshan said the GOK is the biggest polluter in 
Kuwait by virtue of its ownership of all power plants, 
petroleum infrastructure, and landfills.  The Environment 
Public Authority (EPA), he said, "works for the government" 
and would only be effective if it were an independent entity. 
 Al-Meshan cited the EPA Director position being vacant as 
evidence of the GOK's inattention to environmental issues, 
and noted that a Parliamentary environment committee formed 
in 2006 has never met.  (Note:  Al-Meshan also claimed that 
the GOK has no contingency plans for a possible oil tanker or 
refinery accident, although Post's discussions with GOK 
oil-sector contacts indicate otherwise.) 
 
GOK Focuses on Water Supply, Not Demand 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Al-Meshan was especially critical of GOK water 
policy, stating that there is no effort to reduce Kuwait's 
high water consumption (108 gallons per day, per person) with 
the focus instead on increasing supply by building more 
desalination plants, which are expensive and are major 
pollution sources.  Government water subsidies and the lack 
of an effective metering system are also problems, he said. 
Of water sources aside from desalination, Al-Meshan said that 
40% of Kuwait's groundwater is tainted by petroleum as a 
result of the 1991 oil fires, and religious and political 
objections remain formidable barriers to the introduction of 
treated wastewater into the potable water system.  The EPA's 
Haider agreed that a change of policy on using wastewater is 
unlikely in the near future. 
 
Acting EPA Head Says Bushehr Reactor a Concern 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Acting EPA Director Captain Ali Haider said marine 
pollution was one of his primary concerns, noting that the 
threat of radiation leakage from Iran's Bushehr reactor has 
prompted the Ministry of Health to install sensors and the 
GOK to draw up a broader contingency plan.  Kuwait's coast, 
particularly in the south, is still heavily polluted from the 
1990 Iraqi invasion and the EPA is still engaged in cleaning 
up oil lakes.  Haider said chemical leakage from wrecked 
vessels off Kuwait's coast, in the Khor Abdullah, and the 
Shaat Al-Arab waterways is causing problems, and that the EPA 
is working with the UNDP and the Regional Organization for 
the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME, a 
multinational body of the six GCC countries plus Iran) on 
clean-up efforts.  The EPA is also working on building a 
network of protected environmental areas and is trying to 
establish new industrial zones away from major population 
centers.  Haider said that a large portion of UN-administered 
compensation funds from Iraq are going to the Public 
Authority for Agriculture and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) and the 
Kuwait Oil Company for environmental remediation projects 
which are currently being tendered. 
 
No Avian Flu in Kuwait 
---------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Ali Al-Saif, Assistant U/S at the Ministry of 
Health, said the GOK has formed an interministerial committee 
composed of representatives from the ministries of Health, 
Finance, the EPA, and the PAAAFR to coordinate Kuwait's Avian 
Influenza (AI) response efforts.  To date there have been no 
cases of AI in Kuwait despite its location on a major bird 
migration route and the large volume of border traffic coming 
from Iraq (which has had AI cases).  Saif said the GOK has 
sufficient laboratory capacity and stocks of Tamiflu, and the 
PAAAFR is effectively monitoring migratory birds in the 
country.  Efforts are ongoing to train doctors and 
veterinarians to recognize AI. 
 
A/S McMurray Urges GOK Support on Polio Eradication 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) A/S McMurray raised polio eradication with Al-Saif, 
urging the Health Ministry to push India, Pakistan, 
Afghanistan, and Nigeria to support eradication efforts, and 
noting that polio would be a top priority for the new 
Director General of the WHO.  A/S McMurrary also asked that 
the GOK help close the funding gap for polio eradication, to 
which Al-Said responded that he would raise the issue with 
the Minister of Health. 
 
¶8.  (U) A/S McMurray did not clear this message before 
departing post. 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
 
LeBaron