TV programme to publicise waste management plan

Al Ain Municipality and Town Planning Department has launched a year-long television programme to create public awareness about its unique, environment-friendly waste management programme.

The 70 minute episodes of the programme will be telecast live every Thursday night at 11 pm from Al Jimi Shopping Centre, said a spokesperson of the Dubai-based Marvellous Artistical Productions - the official promoters of the project.

An episode of this Arabic programme Efrez Warbah will be telecast tonight on Emirates channel, in which the organisers are expecting Sheikh Mohammed bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, the Ruler's Representative in the Eastern Region, as the guest of honour.

Wafa'a Tuffaha, a Marketing and Research Officer of Marvellous Artistical Productions, yesterday said that a special studio has been established at Al Jimi Shopping Centre from where 52 episodes would be telecast.

"It is basically a quiz show that has been designed to ensure maximum public participation, as the objective is to create awareness about the project," she said.

The organisers of the show plan to bring in showbiz celebrities from Egypt, Syria and other Arab countries and have other attractions to generate public interest in the show.

The programme also comprises interviews of municipality officials, environmental experts, showbiz personalities and people from the general public.

A total of 12 cars will be distributed among the winners, one each month, along with a number of other prizes, said Wafa'a.

The "Source Classified Waste Project" of Al Ain Municipality is a pilot project that has been running since March this year in Al Khubaisi district of the city that has some 2,000 houses and a population of 16,000.

According to Abdullah Hassan Hamarain, Undersecretary of Al Ain Municipality and Town Planning Department, the project is an important move towards enhancing the image of the Oasis city, fast emerging as a tourist destination in the Middle East.

The pilot project will be run for two years in Al Khubaisi before its full-scale implementation to cover the entire city of Al Ain, which has a population of 288,025 and is growing at the rate of five per cent every year, according to the 1998 census.

The project, which is a first-of-its-kind waste management programme in the UAE, is based on comprehensive research and the Al Ain Municipality has been using all its means to achieve the desired results.

It aims to safeguard the environment with public participation, according to the municipality. Under this project, the residents of Al Khubaisi have been provided with two red and green containers.

They have been asked to sort their waste by putting the recyclable material in the red container and organic wastes into the green container, a municipality official said.