MORE than three tonnes of waste, including 340kg of plastic, was cleared from the Janabiya beach in a major cleanliness drive yesterday.
The initiative was organised by Cleanup Bahrain (CUB) and attracted more than 250 volunteers, who amassed 3,182kg of trash in just two hours.
“Lots of single-use plastic, wood and tyres were found during this cleanup,” said CUB co-founder and vice chairperson Roqaya Hashem.
“We were joined by a team from the Bahrain Duty Free as well as two schools – the American School of Bahrain and Al Hekma International School. It was absolutely fantastic seeing everyone come together for this cause. The general waste will be taken by the municipality to the landfill and we will be taking the plastic to a local recycling plant.”
Approximately 2,842kg of general waste and 340kg of plastic was collected.
Meanwhile, the beach near Askar was also cleaned up by the Southern Municipality, in partnership with Nasser Vocational Training Centre. Around 30 students and two teachers collected 100kg of waste.
Bahrain has banned the production, import and sale of plastic water bottles that are less than 200 millilitres.
The GDN reported in July that the Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ministry has passed a law imposing the clampdown. However, businesses have been given six months to implement the rule.
The CUB volunteers had previously collected 349kg of general waste and 109kg of plastic from Malkiya beach in September.
“We are planning more clean-up drives before the end of the year,” said Ms Hashem.
The organisation is also part of the ‘Forever Green’ tree-planting campaign under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of His Majesty King Hamad and President of the National Initiative for Agricultural Development (NIAD) Consultative Council.
The group has already planted 537 trees along the December 16 Highway as part of the first phase of the project. In the next two phases, they will be planting an additional 810 native trees, which will all be maintained by the local municipality.
“We are planting acacia, poinciana and bougainvillea trees, which are low-maintenance, resilient to Bahraini climate and also are aesthetically pleasing, especially when their flowers bloom,” Ms Hashem added.
“The Southern Municipality is in charge of preparing the land, setting up the irrigation and maintaining the trees.
“We decided to kick off our tree planting in October, since that’s the time when Bahrain’s ideal growing season starts.”
The group partnered with Ahli United Bank for the first phase of the project, and NBB will be sponsoring the 810 trees for the rest of the project.
The trees planted would help absorb around 8.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide within five years, help mitigate air pollution, and improve temperature in the congested area.
The team, comprised of co-founder and chairperson Ali AlQaseer, Ms Hashem, general secretary Nadia Shehab, treasurer Hasan Nemah, vice-treasurer S Hadi Marzooq and board administrator Ebrahim Rashid, is also assessing other tree planting sites, and plans to bring some added foliage to a public park in Mahooz.
“During the pandemic, in some ways, the environment had taken a backseat until recently, but we are hoping to change that with our initiatives and projects,” Ms Hashem added.
“Single-use plastic usage has been skyrocketing, masks are not properly recycled, and very few people use reusable masks.
“So we would like to encourage people to reflect on their own actions and make changes wherever possible. Small changes like bringing your own cutlery when you dine out, carpooling with friends and wearing reusable masks can have a big impact.
“In the long term, plastic could be just as devastating to our health as the pandemic.”
naman@gulfweekly.com
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