Qatargas’ Jetty Boil-off Gas (JBOG) Recovery Project Team organised a beach clean-up drive along a stretch of the Ras Laffan beach on the occasion of the World Environment Day earlier this month. A group of 50 JBOG Project Team members and contractors participated in the two-hour long clean-up drive which was supported by the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) division of the Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC) and some 30 employees from the RLIC branch of Larsen & Toubro, a well-known engineering firm.Qatargas chief safety, environment and quality officer Toufik Benmosbah said organising such a clean-up initiative stems from the company’s environmental responsibility and corporate citizenship philosophy, and seeks to promote voluntary work among the staff for social and environmentally responsible causes. “The JBOG Project itself contributes significantly towards environmental protection as it will minimise LNG boil-off gas flaring at LNG berths, reducing emissions and promoting recovery of otherwise wasted energy,” he explained. JBOG project manager Bashir Mirza expressed delight that the Qatargas JBOG Project Management Team came forward with the green initiative and thanked all volunteers from Qatargas, its contractors and RLIC who participated.The location for the clean-up was behind the Qatargas tank farm area of the northern beach of RLIC. The rationale for undertaking the activity is that it is the nesting season for the hawksbill marine turtles.
The Qatargas team chose the low tide period to ensure that there was no possibility of disturbing the turtles coming on the beach to lay eggs. To ensure complete protection for the marked turtle nests along the beach, the clean-up team avoided those areas during the exercise.RLIC’s head of environment, Mohamed Albeldawi, pointed out that marine turtles are regarded as endangered and protected marine species in Qatar. The coastal area of RLIC specifically provides a unique habitat for the nesting of turtles. Taking this into consideration, Ras Laffan initiated the turtle conservation programme, which is currently in its 11th year, with determination to protect the marine turtle.