DUBAI // More than 25,000 volunteers are expected to take part in a new campaign to clear the excessive quantities of rubbish being dumped by the city's residents. Under the slogan "Communities Caring for Nature", the four-day Clean Up The World Campaign 2010 will begin on October 26 at Jumeirah Beach Residence. The volunteers are expected to take part in activities such as beach clean-ups, abandoned vehicle removal, awareness campaigns and leaflet distribution to combat what the problem.
The global Clean Up The World campaign is entering its 17th year, in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The campaign was introduced in Sydney in 1989. In 1993, with the help of UNEP, it convinced 30 million participants from 80 countries to take part. Salah Amiri, the assistant director general of the municipality's Environment and Public Health Service Sector, said excessive waste in Dubai is a result of rapid growth, industrialisation and construction.
"We will continue to consume more resources and produce more waste," he said. "We have no choice but to come up with innovative ways to create new resources from used resources in a sustainable manner." Hussain Ghulam, the coordinator of Dubai's Clean up the World Campaign team and head of Customer Services and Administrative Support Section of the Municipality's Waste Management Department, said global environmental efforts are crucial.
"We must make it a priority to combat environmental issues today to prevent further challenges in the future," he said. The municipality introduced educational programmes in schools this year and will be introducing more in 2011. "We need to educate our children about taking care of nature and keeping their communities clean," said Mr Ghulam. "It is a challenge because we are generating a lot of waste. Awareness is spreading, but slowly."
To get involved, call 04 222 5659 or visit www.cleanuptheworld.dm.ae.
melshoush@thenational.ae
