The Kuwaiti diving team of the Environmental Voluntary Foundation lifted two tons of plastic and other waste materials off the coast of Kuwait Towers on Saturday. The effort was part of a campaign the foundation organized to clean the beach in cooperation with the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). Team leader Walid Al-Fadhel said that the campaigns are periodically organized to encourage institutions to participate in cleaning the country’s coasts, as well as call for awareness in environmental preservation. He added that it is the first cooperation of its kind between KUNA and the foundation.
Al-Fadhel explained that the team organizes 40 similar campaigns for all government institutions to enhance community participation in preserving the marine environment, reported Al Rai. He called on beachgoers to protect the coasts and avoid littering on beaches. He stressed that plastic threatens living organisms and kills one million seabirds every year, in addition to 150,000 marine creatures, especially turtles, which are threatened with extinction, pointing to the need to reduce pressure on the environment and tighten penalties for violators.
Moreover, he said that the team continues the campaigns on a daily basis, and is supported by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, the Public Authority for Youth, the Kuwait Municipality, the Environment Public Authority, the Kuwait Ports Corporation, and others. He stated that the Kuwaiti diving team cleans all the country’s coasts from north to south, in addition to the Kuwaiti islands, and removes all kinds of waste that pose a threat to creatures and marine navigation. It also holds international partnerships with organizations interested in protecting beaches and oceans.
On the other hand, a member of the municipal council and head of the Environmental Affairs Committee, Alia Al-Farsi, said that the campaign would develop the spirit of community participation in cleaning and preserving the environment, reducing pollution, in addition to enhancing the role of awareness and education. She explained that the Environmental Affairs Committee of the Municipal Council is updating the cleaning and waste transfer regulations, which are closely linked with the new cleaning contracts seeking to develop a sustainable system for managing solid municipal waste.