On Feb. 18, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev held a meeting on environmental issues, AzerTAj state news agency reported.
Opening the meeting with introductory remarks, President Ilham Aliyev said that 2010 was declared the Year of Ecology in Azerbaijan. He stressed that in the country, great attention is paid towards solving environmental problems, and therefore, a specific program was adopted, which covers various areas. The program also reflects the mechanisms of implementation, the period of execution and financial sources of the scheduled measures.
Comprehensively analyzing the successes of Azerbaijan in the socio-economic sphere, achieved despite the ongoing world financial and economic crisis, President Ilham Aliyev said that in addition to consolidating these achievements, it is important to pay particular attention to environmental issues. The Head of State spoke about the ongoing work and upcoming tasks in recultivating oil-polluted territories, providing drinking water, improving sewage systems, wastes, etc.
Minister of ecology and natural resources Huseyngulu Bagirov, head of Executive Power of Baku Hajibala Abutalibov and president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic Rovnag Abdullaev fully briefed President Ilham Aliyev on projects dealing with environmental problems, which will be realized in 2010 and over the next few years.
Head of State mentioned the importance of active participation of population in measures to gardening, planting more than 3 million trees in Baku and the Absheron peninsula.
Noting that commissioning Hovsan aerating station has become a significant contribution to solving the problem of sanitation in the capital, President Ilham Aliyev stressed the importance of training based on international experience of the project on re-using sewerage water. The Head of State said that construction of Oguz-Gabala-Baku water pipeline will complete soon, which will improve drinking water supply of Baku, gave an order to increase the number of modular units, constructed in the regions to improve drinking water quality, and expand the territories of these projects. Commenting on measures to clean up the Bay of Baku, President Ilham Aliyev noted the possibility of using the water of the Caspian Sea after the desalination of drinking water and for irrigation. He stressed that such experiences are widely used in several countries.
The Head of State expressed his opinions on issues of preventing air pollution, protecting forests, draining several lakes in the Absheron Peninsula, developing and transforming a number of lakes in the recreation area, and projects on renewable energy and others, commissioned a comprehensive projects and proposals all the topics discussed.