Dubai: Dubai’s beaches are set to get a facelift with Dubai Municipality allocating Dh35 million for regular maintenance of marine facilities and coastal protection for the next two years.

Hussain Nasser Lootah, director-general of Dubai Municipality told Gulf News that the project includes preventive and corrective maintenance of marine facilities, coastal structures and pollution protection barriers, swimming barriers and floating anchors.

“We have allocated the contract as part of continuous maintenance and improvements of Dubai’s beaches to keep them as per international standards,” he said.

Alya Al Harmoudi, director of the Environment Department, said one of the Blue Flag requirements is to keep the beaches in sustainable condition.

“Dubai beaches are sustainable as the municipality has fulfilled all the requirements for accreditation of the Blue Flag certification, which is a prestigious global certification to be awarded to the beaches that are developed based on the concept of sustainability, including compliance to 32 standards.”

The Blue Flag Beach criteria are focused on four main topics: environmental education and information, water quality, environmental management, and safety and services.

She said the municipality presents the status of the quality of marine water in the public beaches to beach goers and to the public on a monthly basis. “This is done by sampling the water of the beach and checking it once a month to ensure that it is free from anything that is considered harmful for swimmers.”

The civic body is also concerned with the cleanliness of public beaches by providing recycling containers to collect, recycle and benefit from garbage, as well as providing clean toilets and showers for beachgoers, she noted.

“We are also building additional toilets and smart changing rooms in public beaches.”

The municipality had announced the preparations for the second “smart and sustainable” Night Swimming Beach in Al Mamzar, after the first one in Umm Suqeim became an instant hit among the residents. “We are expecting to open the Night Swimming Beach in Al Mamzar by the end of the year.”

The Night Swimming Beach is the first of its kind in the world, as its operations depend only on clean energy generated from wind and sun.

The civic body has also facilitated easier access and floating wheel chairs for the people with determination on different beaches, Al Harmoudi added.