15 thousand volunteers to clean up Dubai

Clean Up the World, which is observed this year under the banner: "One World, One Eco-System, One Humanity", is held from 21 November until 24 November.

Dubai Municipality has unveiled the campaign's activities in a press conference on Wednesday at Al Bustan Rotana attended by Abdullah Rafiu, Assistant Director General of the Municipality for Environment and Public Health Affairs, Hassan Makki, Assistant Director of Environment Department and Head of Waste Services Section.

Also present were representatives of the event's sponsors including Mousa Awad, Business Development Manager of Tadweer, Senan Al Naboodah, Asst Group Managing Director of Al Naboodah Group of Companies, J S A Bukhari, Executive Director of Zenath Group of Companies, Imaad Makzoumi, President - Business Development of Gulf Eternit Company Ltd, and Kamal Fakhouri, General Manager of Al Bustan Rotana Hotel.

"Dubai Municipality is committed to improve public cleanliness in the emirate in cooperation with individuals, government establishments, private firms and non-governmental organisations through effective participation," said Mr. Rafia'.

"This annual voluntary effort has won the Municipality many accolades, most prominent among them is the Best Voluntary Work Award 2004 from His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassmi, Ruler of Sharjah," he said.

He noted that it is the 13th consecutive year that Dubai is organising the campaign. The campaign has such noble objectives as forging a sense of mutual cooperation among organisations and institutions concerned with environment in planning and executing environment action programmes, enhancing environment awareness of the community on waste reduction and recycling issues, ensuring participation of institutions and individuals in environment programmes, cleaning up the local environment, and encouraging team-work in finding lasting solutions for the growing waste problem.

"The campaign also seeks to encourage media to focus on environment protection activities thereby enhancing awareness of governments and industries with regard to local environment issues such as waste reduction, recycling and safe disposal of waste," he said.

Preparations for the clean up are already under way with the Municipality trying to facilitate an even greater level of participation than last year. In 2005, more than 14,450 persons participated in removing 3200 tonnes of litter and debris from various areas. Divers from the Dubai Civil Defence Department and Dubai Police cleaned up the creek bed by collecting 10 tons of floating waste.

Shedding light on various activities of the campaign, Hassan Makki said apart from Dubai Municipality, several government departments, NGOs, and voluntary organisations are participating in this year's campaign.

The official launch of the event will be held on Tuesday 21 November 2006 at Zabeel Park with senior government officials and representatives of the sponsors attending. The event will include entertainment programmes to be staged by students in addition to different workshops and a recyclable material sculpture competition. On the same day, professional divers will clean the Dubai Creek and Al Hamriya Port.

The second day's (Wednesday, 22 Nov) activities include clean up drive by volunteers from government schools at an area behind Mushrif Park (close to the Academic City Road Roundabout), distribution of waste bins in schools as well as new and large garbage bins in several locations and beaches of Dubai, distribution of awareness literature to the city residents, and felicitation of the participants.

On the third day (Thursday, 23 November), volunteers from private schools, colleges, and universities will collect debris from the site opposite Dubai Police Academy in Umm Sequim. "This programme is aimed at educating the young generation on the need to protect the environment," said Mr. Makki.

The last day of the campaign (Friday, 24 Nov) will include clean-up by volunteers (general public) in Al Qouz. On this day, winners of a photography contest, organised in a bid enhance environmental awareness, will be felicitated in a concluding ceremony.

The awareness programmes, organised on the sidelines of the campaign, include a unique public awareness campaign to encourage people to use jute shopping bags instead of plastic bags. As part of the campaign, selected supermarkets and cooperative societies will be provided with jute shopping bags and customers will be encouraged to carry their purchases in these bags.

Other awareness programmes include a drive to collect used toys which will later be distributed among needy children in Lebanon in cooperation with the UAE Red Crescent, waste recycling workshops in shopping malls, exhibition of children's paintings on waste, and several contests for children. There will be environment lectures in schools where children can also participate in an essay contest on waste reduction. Another unique contest is for the public who will be urged to collect maximum quantity of paper waste.

Some 15,000 high-quality T-shirts and more than 10,000 caps, printed with the campaign's logo, will be distributed among the volunteers.