VILLAGERS are seeking a meeting with environment chiefs after gagging for days on mystery fumes, which only cleared up over the weekend.

The people of Ma'ameer have blamed the fumes on pollution from nearby industries.

Activists from the village are now hoping to meet Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environ-ment and Wildlife director general Dr Adel Al Zayani to plead their case.

The GDN reported on Friday that residents were calling for independent tests to find out the origin of the fumes, troubling them since Monday night.

These fumes had allegedly been polluting the air for days. The problem worsened on Wednesday, causing breathing problems for villagers.

Ma'ameer Environmental Activists Committee president Mohammed Jawad described the incident as the final straw.

"We want to find a solution," said Mr Jawad.

He said authorities should either remove the small factories "surrounding us or they must find a solution to protect us".

Monitor

It follows years of complaints by residents, who blamed pollution from factories in a nearby industrial area for cases of cancer, miscarriages, breathing and skin problems among villagers.

Mr Jawad is now preparing a letter seeking a meeting with Dr Al Zayani. "Residents are worried about their health," he said.

He had claimed that the fumes were caused by a leak at Bapco, which he said was conducting maintenance work.

The company, however, denied the claim yesterday.

"We have machines that monitor and check air quality," said public relations manager Mohammed Falah.

"The machines will alert us if there is any gas leak. We didn't have anything of that sort in the past four days."

He said reports of machine readings are sent daily to the Public Commission.

The latest incident follows an investigation into possible gas leaks near Ma'ameer in 2005. Residents of the village and neighbouring areas complained for several days at the time of skin rashes and irritations, especially after swimming in the nearby sea. They also complained of fumes in the air and suspected it was coming from one of the factories. The Health Ministry, however, dismissed the claims as untrue after conducting its own investigation.