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Dubai Municipality organises biggest ever clean-up drive

DUBAI — More than 14,450 volunteers from several government and non-government organisations, schools and private firms collected more than 3,200 tonnes of waste, of which 10 tonnes were from the creek bed, in the biggest-ever “Clean Up The World” campaign organised by Dubai Municipality.

Abdullah Rafia, Assistant Director-General of Dubai Municipality for Environment and Public Health Affairs, noted that this year’s campaign was a resounding success as there was a phenomenal increase both in the number of participants and the volume of garbage collected.

He made the comments while felicitating participants as well as sponsors of the event in a ceremony at Al Bustan Rotana Hotel on Wednesday.

“We have registered a 10 per cent increase in the number of participants as compared to last year. This would not have been possible, had there not been greater cooperation from schools, green organisations, private firms and government departments,” he said. The campaign was launched on November 22, 2005 in a ceremony near the Twin Towers on Bani Yas Street.

Also speaking on the occasion, Ghanim Al Marri, Deputy General Manager of Etisalat, Dubai Region, which was one of the sponsors of the event, said: “A clean and healthy environment is for the benefit, well-being and progress of each and every individual of the society. We all have to support many more of these important initiatives to raise awareness and concern in citizens and corporations alike for the protection of the environment.”

Hassan Makki, Head of the campaign’s Organising Committee, said during the four-day campaign, the volunteers cleaned up beaches, streets, natural sanctuary, and several key sites under the supervision of staff from the Waste Services Section. Students of several government and private schools and universities have also participated in the campaign by cleaning up beaches and the Ras Al Khor Natural Sanctuary.

This year’s event was supported by Etisalat, ETA Ascon, Gulf Eternit, and Rotana Hotels Group. They were represented in the felicitation ceremony by Ghanim Al Marri (Etisalat), Wadih Bustani, General Manager of Gulf Eternit, J.S. Bukhari, General Manager of ETA Ascon, and Mohammed Haj Hassan, Food and Beverages Manager at Al Bustan Rotana.