Gulf War oil spill, Tsunami hazards to be discussed in coastal conference

The conference will be held in Dubai under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality, during 27 - 29 November 2005. The Scientific Review Committee has accepted some 110 papers from nearly 150 papers that were received from 20 countries around the world.

According to Francois Smit, Vice-Chairman of the Scientific Review Committee, the overwhelming response to the conference from all over the world gave the committee a tough time in finalising the papers to be presented at the conference.

"There was approximately 25 papers on each of the six themes of the conference. The eight-member scientific committee, composed of internationally recognized experts in their respective fields, examined them from technical and quality viewpoints. The relevance to the Gulf region were also taken into consideration while making a final decision on the accepted papers," he said.

Smit noted that there are some 20 papers concerning the UAE coasts while 28 papers concern the Gulf and Middle East regions including nine from Kuwait, five from the Sultanate of Oman, eight from Iran and four from Egypt. Others papers are from India, USA, Italy, UK, Jordan, Nigeria, Turkey, Japan, Greece, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, New Zealand, Denmark, South Africa, Australia and Tunisia.

"The papers' presenters were asked to submit an extended abstracts of the papers by mid-October. The final list of the papers will be announced thereafter," he said.

The Coastal Management Section at Dubai Municipality has initiated the ARABIANCOAST Conference series in order to bring together regional and international scientists, environmentalists, coastal engineers and coastal managers to discuss the latest achievements and developments of relevance to ensuring best practice in development and preservation of the regional coastal zone.

The event will also provide a platform for discussion on coastal impact problems and remedial solutions, including the presentation of case studies of relevance to the region. There will be particular emphasis on building collaborative linkages between stakeholders, agencies, programs and professionals working in the region to ensure universal adoption of best practice. A technical trade exhibition will be held along side the main conference.