Over 20,500 volunteers pick up 4150 tons of litter

Abdullah Rafia, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality for Environment and Public Health Sector, noted that this year's campaign was a resounding success as there was a phenomenal increase both in the number of participants and the volume of garbage collected.

"We have registered a 12% increase in the number of participants as compared to last year. This would not have been possible, had there not been greater cooperation from schools, green organizations, private firms and government departments," he said.

He noted that participation from different organisations and volunteers was overwhelming. "We initially expected just over 18000 volunteers. But, the number soared to 20,550 with people from all walks of life coming forward to serve the environment they live in. There were registrations until last minute from several groups interested in taking part in the campaign. This shows the high level of environmental awareness among Dubai's residents and their commitment towards keeping their surroundings clean and tidy," said Rafia.

The campaign was launched on 18 November 2008 in a ceremony at Heritage Village by Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water and Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality, with senior officials from the Ministry and the Municipality, students, and several members of the public attending.

Hassan Makki, Director of Waste Management Department and Head of the campaign's Organising Team, said during the 4-day campaign, over 14,950 volunteers from 309 private companies, 16 government departments, six NGOs, and several community groups cleaned up beaches, streets, open areas and several key sites under the supervision of staff from the Waste Management Department. In addition, more than 5600 students from 79 government schools and 31 private schools and universities have participated in the campaign by picking up debris from open areas.

Various community groups have participated in the campaign with more enthusiasm this year. "The Indian and the Filipino community's participation in the campaign was praiseworthy, as they sent in the largest number of volunteers in cleaning Nad Al Sheba and Al Mamzar Beach areas. There were at least 7000 members of the Indian Community in Nad Al Sheba and 1300 members of the Filipino Community in Al Mamzar. Other communities living in Dubai have also made significant contributions to the campaign's success," he said.

As part of the campaign's awareness programmes, workshops were organised for general public on recycling and reducing waste. Other evens included environmental workshops on making usable materials from waste, broadcasting campaign programmes on school radios, collection of used materials, lectures in schools on the importance of waste reduction, and arranging visits for students to waste recycling factories. The Environment and Health Awareness Office has organized special awareness programmes for Dubai Municipality staff including an email contest.

The campaign was supported by Al Naboodah Engineering, Al Habtoor Group, Gulf Eternit Industries, Grand Hyatt, Zenath Recycling, British American Tobacco Association, Tadweer, Tetrapak and Union Paper Mills, among others.