UAE: Divers clear sea of 2,000kg of waste

The Dibba Fujairah Municipality, in collaboration with the Extreme Diving Centre, collected two tonnes of fishing wastes off the beaches of the city.

Hassan Salem Al Yamahi, director of the civic body, said some fishermen recklessly dumped their damaged or torn fishing tools, nets and ropes in the sea. “Some others dump metal, plastic and glass wastes, along with cans, in the sea, polluting and endangering the marine environment."

Such wastes pose a "grave risk" to fishery, he underlined. “The municipality, in collaboration with the bodies concerned, launches cleaning campaigns and provide the containers needed to properly get rid of these wastes.”

The latest cleaning campaign netted two tonnes of waste, he said. “More cleaning drives will be launched to protect and preserve the marine environment.”

A few days ago, 52 divers of different nationalities fished out 35,000kg of wastes from the seabed of the Umm Al Quwain port.

The move is part of a multi-phase cleaning campaign themed ‘Environment is home’, which saw active participation from Sheikh Ali bin Saud Al Mualla, Chairman of the UAQ Municipality.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com