• Home

Dubai Launches Clean-up Drive

DUBAI — City officials launched their biggest-ever clean-up drive on Tuesday and announced tough penalties against dropping cigarette butts on streets and public places.

The Dubai Municipality also introduced a reusable, compact pouch named ‘Stubbi’ which can be used as a pocket ashtray to prevent throwing cigarette butts on streets.

Hassan Mohammed Makki, Director of the Waste Management Department at the municipality, told Khaleej Times that over 10,000 people are fined every year for littering.

Dirtying public places, including throwing cigarette butts around,
attracts a fine of Dhs500 as per municipal laws.

“It is difficult for us to push smokers to quit the habit, though there are lots of efforts towards that,” Makki said on the sidelines of the Clean up the
World Campaign launched at Al Mamzar Park.

“We are not supporting smoking. But we want the smokers to keep our surroundings clean. We don’t want them to litter cigarette butts. We hope this pouch will help in changing the littering habit of smokers,” he said.

Manufactured by a UK company, the anti-cigarette butt pouch, Stubbi, has undergone a makeover for its Dubai launch. The fireproof papers in the pouch were originally designed to store both cigarette butts and chewing gum until they can be safely disposed of in a bin. By using the pouch, smokers can also avoid causing accidental fires from burning cigarette stubs.

Municipal inspectors from 17 area offices of the Waste Management Department will be in charge of distributing a total of 50,000 pieces of Stubbi, the blue pouch that can hold a maximum of five 2.5cm cigarette ends, Head of Specialised Cleaning Section at the Department Yaqoob Mohammed Al Ali told this paper.

It is not just the unsightliness of the stubs on beaches and roads that has prompted the civic body to opt for this new way of dealing with cigarette remains, digging them up from the sand is a herculean task for the municipal cleaners, said Ali, who is also the chief coordinator for the campaign.

“We have so many big machines and tools to do our cleaning up activities. But, we don’t have proper tools to recover cigarette butts from the sand, as they are very small. It is very difficult for our cleaning staff to remove these cigarette stubs for disposing them of properly,” he said.

Minister of Environment and Water Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahd and Director-General of Dubai Municipality Hussain Nasser Lootah, who inaugurated the four-day Clean up the World Campaign, urged the public to have a proactive attitude towards preserving the environment.

A drive to collect religious publications and newspapers from mosques was also launched on Tuesday. Hundreds of volunteers joined the mass cleaning up drive at fishermen’s villages in Al Mamzar and Jumeirah 1.

The clean-up campaign will also cover Nadd al Sheba, desert area in Wadi Al Amradi, bachelor accommodations in Al Quoz, Nadd Al Hamr, Al Khawaneej, Al Aweer area behind Defence Camp, Al Qusais labour accommodation and Ras Al Khor Natural Sanctuary, Heritage Village area, Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim open beaches, Hatta tourist areas, industrial areas, Jebel Ali Port Free Zone area, Diving Beach and Creek, and other labour accommodations.

sajila@khaleejtimes.ae