Sharjah: Dirt-ridden waters will soon be a thing of the past as authorities have recently launched a lagoon cleaning boat dedicated to collecting plastic bags and rubbish.
Tandeef, a division of the Sharjah Environment Company Bee'ah, launched its first lagoon cleaning boat six weeks ago, and is currently in its trial phase.
"Tandeef made the decision to introduce a lagoon cleaning boat to Sharjah waters after hearing the community's concerns regarding the state of the area's waterways," said George Yanos, Operations Director at Tandeef.
"We had the boat designed and built in Sharjah and so far it has proven to be highly efficient and easy to maintain."
The fisherman-style boat features custom Tandeef-built ‘side wings' and is able to collect up to 100kg of recyclable waste per day, which Yanos pointed out is double the amount that was being collected using Tandeef's previous ‘manual' boats. The pilot phase is currently restricted to the waterway along the Corniche of the Al Khalid Lagoon, and is being closely monitored by Tandeef's research and design team.
However, he noted that a future expansion will be launched that will also include other areas in Sharjah.
"Since its pilot phase began on the boat, it has undergone minor design changes to improve efficiency," said Yanos, adding that the cleaning boat adds to its existing fleet of environmental vehicles used to sweep the roads.
Tandeef is also preparing to launch a second boat soon, with a flotilla of five additional boats expected to be introduced at a later date.
