Muscat: The Directorate General of Environment has followed up on a recently raised complaint about a mining company uprooting forests of frankincense trees at the Modam site in the wilayat of Salalah. To find out the rationale of this report the site was visited today, Thursday, April 29, 2021, the Environment Authority said.
A statement issued online by the Environment Authority said, "The Directorate wishes to clarify that the aforementioned company has been issued an environmental permit in February 2020 after it submitted an environmental impact study, which obliges it to follow environmental standards during implementation."
"Also, the site does not have a large tree density, but rather a number of scattered trees like any other site, and through the review it was found that the circulating image of the equipment that uproots the tree is an old picture that was taken about five months ago while the equipment was removing a stuck vehicle for a citizen and the equipment had been opened that way to reach the vehicle," the statement clarified.
"The Directorate closely follows the petrification sites and the rest of the sites from the environmental side and will take the necessary measures in the event that there is anything that violates the law and regulations. The Directorate also wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to all for their concern for environmental resources in the Sultanate," the statement added.
