prijava
SARAJEVO, January 24 (FENA) - The level of air pollution in Bosnia and Herzegovina is alarmingly high, making it one of the most polluted countries in the world, and Sarajevo the most polluted European city, it was pointed out today at a seminar in the framework of the event "Let's Talk About the Air Quality" that will be held this afternoon in Sarajevo.
The organizer of the seminar and the conference is the Embassy of Sweden in BiH, and the occasion for the conference is launching a campaign for raising awareness of air pollution in BiH and presenting the results of a project focusing on air quality and air management.
The project is implemented by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency in BiH (SEPA), in cooperation with the FBiH Hydro-meteorological Institute in BiH and the Hydro-meteorological Institute of RS.
Swedish Ambassador to BiH Anders Hagelberg said in his introductory note that although he got acquainted with the challenges and problems of air pollution in BiH, he was very surprised with the magnitude of this problem when he first came to BiH.
“The situation that I saw when I came here was the worst that I have seen,” said the Ambassador, citing examples of Tuzla and Sarajevo as the two cities with the highest air pollution in BiH.
He pointed out that apart from the fact that air pollution seriously affects health of a large number of people, it affects the economy of a country and that this issue is one of the key issues in the context of accession to the European Union (EU).
“Therefore, BiH has to demonstrate a strong commitment to addressing the issue of air quality,” stressed the ambassador.
Swedish Ambassador believes that BiH needs greater involvement and engagement of political leaders in resolving this problem, which is why he urged politicians at the highest levels to take leadership roles in this context.
He also noted that there is a need for investing in infrastructure in BiH which could lead to a reduction in air pollution, and, as he said, Sweden has already received such requests from BiH.
Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH Brankica Pandurević, addressed the participants of the seminar and expressed satisfaction with the fact that the Embassy of Sweden in BiH has recognized this problem and thus launched such a project.
She especially pointed out to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), according to which 223 people (per 100,000 inhabitants) died from air pollution in BiH, while in Sweden this number was 0.4 percent for the same number of population.
After the introductory remarks, SEPA representatives presented their activities over the past six months and identified the measures that should be taken to improve air quality in BiH.
These measures and activities are divided into six basic groups, of which the first is collection, monitoring and distribution of air quality data.
What needs to be done in this respect is the establishment of a functional monitoring framework at the level of the EU standards, which would require the establishment of a state institution to deal with this type of work.
The other group of proposed activities relates to the EU request that requires only one competent authority responsible for standardized calibration of equipment and air quality monitoring system.
This will, as they explained, require a form of mandate for one institution that will have to develop into a single reference laboratory, which will require staff training and investment.
The following activity involves identifying the actual levels and sources of air pollution in BiH, which needs to be done through cooperation with external partners. After that, if possible, an inventory of identified problems should be made.
Among other things, SEPA representatives have indicated the need for a larger information campaign that would be based on scientific data.
Such activities already exist in BiH, which has been assessed as a good potential for cooperation, and exchange of experience.
The last activity relates to the implementation of existing legislation, which is said to be a sensitive area because it deals with changing the laws and regulations.
Representatives of SEPA in this context proposed the engagement of inspectors from Sweden who would train local experts to become inspectors for environmental issues.
They concluded that the main problem for all these activities is their upholding for a longer period of time. All these initiatives can be implemented during the three or four years of the duration of the project, however, SEPA representatives stressed that this issue should be addressed in cooperation with all partners in BiH.
(FENA) S. R.
