By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: The Environmental Public Authority (EPA) had previously issued a decree establishing a digital system to control the transport of medical waste. This should be done by installing detectors on all vehicles transporting such waste. According to the EPA, this will be implemented soon. "We are currently preparing a schedule for the transporters and their timings. We will soon announce the start of operating the new system.

The vehicles will be connected to a central operations room and all the collected and delivered waste will be registered. This new system was approved to ensure better control on delivering the waste properly and protecting the environment," Abdullah Al-Otaibi, head of the waste department at EPA, told Kuwait Times.

EPA is penalizing violators who pollute the environment. "We have ticketed tankers dumping sewage water into rain sewers. And we apply the same for medical waste vehicles if they dispose it in any place other than the incinerator. Medical waste is not dumped but burned," explained Otaibi. He said this system will connect various institutions related to waste collection to simplify operations and protect the environment.

The Municipality is not in charge of collecting medical waste, which is collected separately from other waste from both public and private hospitals. An administrator of a private hospital said the hospital has a contract for collecting medical waste daily.

He however refused to provide information about the charges for collecting this waste. He also said the hospital is not in charge of controlling the vehicles transporting the waste, noting that this is the responsibility of the cleaning company that operates these vehicles.