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Kuwaiti Environment Court To Start In October KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - A Kuwaiti court with expansive powers is due to start hearing cases against destruction and damage to the emirate's environment in October, director general of the Environment Public Authority (EPA) said. The court, the first of its kind in Kuwait, is aimed at stopping damage and aggression against the local environment, Mohammad al-Sarawi said, quoted by the KUNA news agency. "The court will confront offenders of the Kuwaiti environment's legislation in a decisive way," Sarawi said. A special legislation for protecting the Gulf state ecology, passed by parliament several months ago, stipulates stiff penalties, including jail terms, against offenders damaging marine and desert life. The court will hear cases involving oil spills, industrial pollution and violations along the 200-km (125-mile) long coastline. The Kuwaiti environment suffered extensive damage during the Iraqi invasion of 1990 and the subsequent liberation seven months later. Retreating Iraqi troops smashed and torched more than 700 wells sending acrid black smoke into the atmosphere and creating oil lakes across the desert before the wells were capped in November 1991. In addition, up to eight million barrels of oil were spilt into the sea by the Iraqi forces damaging marine life and coastal areas up to 400 kilometers away. Kuwait has submitted compensation claims worth billions of dollars for environment damage caused by the Iraqi occupation to the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC). The compensation claims include damage to public health, water resources, the desert environment, marine and coastal areas and oil reserves, as well as the bill for research
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