UAE | Environment

How could we let this happen?

Five tonnes of rubbish is collected on average everyday from Jumeirah's beaches. Bottles litter the beach, while assorted items bob around in the shallow surf.

  • By Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:37 August 20, 2007
  • Gulf News

  • Dawn (6 am) at the Jumeirah Open Beach finds the area still packed with people and littered with rubbish.
  • Image Credit: Megan Hirons/Gulf News
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Dubai: It might be 6am on a Friday morning on the Open Beach in Jumeirah but it looks more like the aftermath of a 48-hour music festival with people camped out on beach towels stirring themselves awake, groups of friends having a morning dip, while others gaze together as dawn breaks.

But how do you enjoy the sunrise when all around you is wasteland? Five tonnes of rubbish is collected on average everyday from Jumeirah's beaches.

Worst offenders

The fine white sand is polka-dotted with water bottles while empty drinks cartons bob around in the shallow surf, food wrappers of all kinds have been chucked aside and chip packets roll like tumbleweed along the shoreline which is covered in a confetti of cigarette butts.

Thursday night revellers are the worst offenders of unnecessary pollution according to a lifeguard stationed at Jumeirah Open Beach.

"People in the UAE are used to having people clean up after them. It doesn't even cross their minds to walk a few steps and drop their bottles in the bins," said a lifeguard, who asked not to be named.

The beach is crowded with overnighters who come to eat and socialise or meet up after a night out to enjoy the seashore at its coolest.

"I think it is getting worse. People think why should we bother ourselves to clean up? The amount of plastic bags on the beach on a Friday morning is too much. It is bad for the environment and some of them float into the sea," he said.

He added that bins are aplenty on the beaches yet bathers often bundled their waste in a plastic bag but still leave it behind them when they leave.

"It's difficult to tell people to put their rubbish in the bin. They think its labourer's work and think we, as lifeguards, are fighting with them," he said.

What residents think

Nabeel Habbouche, 29, said he finds the water pretty clean but does come across household rubbish quite frequently in the sea and on the sand as well.

"You see things like plastic bags, tanning lotion, wrappers. I look to the environment for clues to the beaches' health. I see plenty of fish and crabs in the water as I swim, so I am rest assured that its safe to swim," he said.

Melissa Pentali, 36, said she has mostly seen cigarette butts in the sand.

"When there are bins provided it is quite unacceptable. I never leave my rubbish on the beach. If someone chucked something or if there was a lot of rubbish I would tell them they can't leave it like that. I fish things out like bottles and plastics bags off the water too. There needs to be more awareness - it's not just about people picking up after other people," she said.

Haifa Awad, 24, said she finds the beaches are quite clean but she has never seen anybody clean them up.

"I go occasionally and I have found that they are quite clean. I never leave my rubbish there; I think it's a really uncivilised act. Sometimes I see people leave their papers behind but I wouldn't tell someone to pick it up. It's their business. I wouldn't say anything," she said.

Amount of waste on the rise

Up to five tonnes of rubbish is collected on average everyday from public beaches in Jumeirah and Umm Suqueim according to Yahia Sulaiman Saeed, Head of Waste Services at Dubai Municipality.

"The amount of waste collected daily from Jumeirah and Umm Suqueim beach is about 5,000kg and only 1,000kg from Al Mamzar Park. Unfortunately the amount of waste is increasing due to an increase of population in the city and increase in number of people visiting beaches," said Saeed.

He said efforts to keep the beaches clean were being made with the provision of new beach cleaning machines and the implementation of Local Order No.11 / 2003 whereby fines can reach Dh 500 for littering.

A team of inspectors and foremen are assigned to control the beaches and fine any violators, said Saeed. In the history of the local order however Gulf News was unable to find out if any fines have ever been issued.

Nearly 40 employees are stationed on the beaches to pick up litter and empty bins in the morning and evening shifts. Saeed said there are 108 bins with a capacity of 200 litres across the beaches.

Two beach cleaning machines such as mechanised rakes that sift the sand are used everyday. There is also a four-wheeled drive winch crane which is used once a week to remove debris.

Every night a team of 21 cleaners supervised by a foreman and equipped with a pick-up truck is assigned specifically for an evening cleaning operation on beaches. This team is deployed from 6pm to 12.30am everyday.

Environmental impact of litter

The biggest impact on the environment comes from plastic bags as they remain in the environment for up to 100 years, said Ebrahim Al Zu'bi, United Nations Environment Programme youth exchange coordinator for West Asia.

"They stay for good in the environment and as soon as they reach the water they can affect the marine life and this environment as a whole. Turtles might see them as jellyfish and eat them. In other parts of the world whales have died from plastic bags in their stomachs," said Al Zu'bi.

He said clean ups have been going on in the UAE for a number of years and are necessary although he aims for the day when clean ups won't be necessary.

"People think the rubbish will never reach the sea but it always does. It reaches the ocean, floats away and has an impact," he said.

Cigarette butts do not disintegrate for at least five years and are the item the most found on beaches during clean ups.

"We did a survey a few years ago with the Emirates Diving Association and found they were the most frequent on Jumeirah Open Beach. Fish can eat them and die. Litter is a cause of death. There are rubbish bins and I think Dubai Municipality does a great job. Five tonnes is a lot," he added.

"Rangers or environmental police are needed I think to monitor people. We should all be judged on our environmental impact akin to the way we are judged by the police," he said.

Jumeirah Beach Park

Mohammad Sharif, 35, from Pakistan operates a small white vehicle which collects the majority of cigarette butts, papers, bottle tops, and wrappers dropped on the beach. He has been driving up and down Jumeirah Beach Park for the last three years every morning from 5am for about 4 hours every day.

"Everyday there is just more and more rubbish. It all comes back. Especially the cigarette butts. The public starts arriving at 7.30am and by the next day I know it will be the same," said Sharif.

Peering into the metal sieve-like cage at the back of the vehicle, the loot is not tempting. "I have found maybe 50 fils or Dh1 but nothing more," smiles Sharif, "Only in my dreams will I find any jewellery," he continues.

Optimistic beach goers that attempt to find treasures buried in the sand with metal detectors are not allowed said one of the lifeguards arriving for his shift.

According to Ramanan, 25, from Sri Lanka, a manual rubbish collector who picks up bigger items like empty plastic bottles, cans or anything visible at a distance, upto 10 black rubbish bags can be easily filled with strewn rubbish.

Have your say
What else do you think could be done to help save our beaches from garbage?


Your comments


This is clearly not acceptable. It's very simple! Ban all plastic bags on the beach; any person with plastic bags will be fined. Simple. Next, have grocery stores stop offering plastic bags, paper bags at a cost or bring your own bag. Customised cloth bags. In Pakistan and India people have been carrying these cloth bags around for ages why can?t they do it now? It?s already popular in the US.
Abdul
Chicago,USA
Posted: August 21, 2007, 09:26

Zero Waste concept is catching up across the globe. Kovalam beach in Kerala, India, had implemented a zero waste project. http://www.zerowastekovalam.org The Zero Waste Kovalam Project aims to tackle the waste issue through the globally invigorating process of Zero Waste that is changing the way communities use materials and resources. Zero Waste is an ethical, economical, and efficient way of looking at material use and in the process eliminating the concept of waste and waste management.
Joyish
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 21, 2007, 09:21

Appoint litter guards with the power to issue instant fines of Dhs1,000 on anyone caught littering the beach.
Alastair
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 21, 2007, 09:12

A lot of people just don't care about their environment so I think the government should implement stiffer penalties for those who are caught leaving their trash for the whole UAE and not just that, everybody should be taught to minimise, recycle and sort their own garbage. I'm sure if the government takes the time to recycle, it will be economically and environmentally viable for everybody.
Farah
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: August 21, 2007, 09:03

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