DUBAI // Hundreds of volunteers will head out to the desert over then next 10 days for a clean-up operation.
The first annual Desert Clean Up Campaign 2011 was launched today by Dubai Municipality with police and the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
Volunteers will be lending a hand to pick up litter in the desert near Al Warqa. Empty food containers, bottles and plastic bags are more often than not left behind by campers and picnickers.
Desert lovers are urged by the municipality to put the environment first by ensuring the area is free of litter. Their slogan is, “Leave the place clean for others to enjoy”.
“We do not want to focus on fines; we want to raise awareness because that is what brings results,” said Hussain Nasser Lootah, director general of Dubai Municipality. “The municipality and the public should work together.”
The campaign was launched to prevent serious environmental damage, said Abdulmajeed Abdulaziz Saifaie, director of the Waste Management Department at the municipality.
“Today, the problem is not too big, which is why we want to start before it escalates,” he said. “Next time, the campaign will be much wider and we will incorporate other areas such as Hatta.”
melshoush@thenational.ae
