Dubai:  Dubai Municipality has announced the launch of the Clean up the World 2010 campaign, which is held under the slogan ‘Communities Caring for Nature'.

More than 25,000 volunteers are expected to take part in the campaign, which is organised by Dubai Municipality in association with the Clear Up the World Pty of Australia and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The campaign programmes run from October 26 to October 29.

Mutual cooperation

The campaign, which is organised for the 17th year, is aimed at forging a sense of mutual cooperation among organisations and institutions concerned with environment, enhancing environmental awareness of the community, ensuring participation of institutions and individuals and cleaning up the local environment.

Announcing the programme of the campaign, Salah Amiri, Assistant Director General for Environment and Public Health Services Sector, said the benefits to the environment achieved by the efforts of millions of concerned and dedicated volunteers around the world, including Dubai, have been astounding since the first Clean Up the World campaign in 1994.

"Over the past ten years, Dubai went through a fast pace of industrialisation and urbanisation," Amiri said.

"As a city, the future holds many challenges for us. There will be more people, more buildings, more vehicles and more industries. We will consume more resources and produce more waste," he said.

"We will have no choice but to continue to come up with new and innovative ways of using technologies to create new resources from used resources in a sustainable manner," Amiri added.

 

Details: Opening ceremony at 9am

October 26: Opening ceremony and launch of campaign at 9am at Jumeirah Beach Residence; painting exhibitions and quiz competition for students; clean up activities by schools and organisations; awards ceremony; marine clean-up activities at fishing village.

October 27: Clean up by volunteers from government institutions from 9am, Al Warqa, including clean-up activity, distribution of litter bins to schools and waste paper collection competition; abandoned vehicles removal programme in coordination with the operation unit of Dubai Municipality.

October 28: Clean up by volunteers from private institutions from 9am at Al Suffouh Beach; pest control activities in cooperation with certified pest control companies in various areas in Dubai.

October 29: Clean up by general public from 9am at Al Jaddaf; clean up by the Filipino community from 8:30am on Al Mamzar Beach; volunteer recognition and awarding of participants.

Marine effort

Thirty divers took part in the Aqah Beach clean up organised by Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach resort in cooperation with the Emirates Diving Association and Al Boom Diving Club. The campaign was part of the World Coastal Clean-Up Day, which was launched in 100 countries with the participation of over 15,000 volunteer divers to clean up oceans from waste estimated at 6 million tonnes yearly.

The campaign in Fujairah included two diving rounds during which participants gathered waste from the deep sea opposite the hotel's beach and thoroughly disinfected the artificial coral reefs planted by the hotel with the aim of protecting and enhancing the marine environment.

Have you participated in the past? Will you be participating in the campaign this year? Do you think it is an effective way to spread awareness?