All those involved in illegal reclamation or any anti-environment practices such as blocking coastline or covering natural springs with sand will be considered as violators. The deputies pointed out a number of incidents where individuals had blocked the coastline next to their private property or springs were blocked stopping water, underlining that “damages to ecology and to environment should not be tolerated.”

The punishments are part of a parliamentary proposal to include new articles in the penal code law. The proposal that was recently approved by Utilities and Environment Committee will be discussed on Saturday by the Chamber of Deputies during the extraordinary session. The Ministry of Municipalities and Agriculture approved the punishments, but asked the Chamber to include this article in any environmental law, instead of the panel code law.

The ministry said a draft law for the protection of Beaches and Coastlines included certain punishments for violators, so the proposal was not necessary. The ministry said that the red reclamation lines, coastlines and other natural reservations would be determined by an international company that had been assigned to do the natural planning of the kingdom. However, the legal adviser of the government has asserted that the “proposal was not necessary” as there were regulations and laws to punish those guilty of environmental offences.