FUJAIRAH // A team of 40 divers and 60 volunteers have removed 30 tonnes of rubbish from the waters off Fujairah.
The clean-up was one of many organised by the Oxygen Environmental Group so far this year and had the support of Fujairah Fishermen Association, government departments and diving centres.
Fishermen, divers and volunteers gathered at Al Rughayalat Port and worked together for six hours on Saturday to clear the underwater waste.
A fisherman involved said that tyres, fishing nets and cages, boat engine parts, plastic bags and metal cans were among the haul.
“About 15 fishermen have participated in the campaign and we were surprised with the amount of rubbish that was removed from the port,” said Salem Obaid.
“It’s part of our responsibility to keep the water clean so to not affect the marine life but lack of awareness had led to this, and we will start focusing more on the awareness part to reduce the amount of pollution.”
Rehab Al Danhani, head of Oxygen Environmental Group, said: “We are proud of what we accomplished so far. Each time we have more volunteers and more participants, which shows how the community is becoming more aware and started to care more about the environment.”
Oxygen has organised 10 marine clean-up campaigns since the beginning of this year.
“We covered areas like Kalba, Merbeh, Dibba, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah, and we are looking for more support to cover the whole Emirates,” she said.
“Our job doesn’t stop here as we demand more observation from officials and more awareness campaigns that targets fishermen, especially the Asian workers as they lack the information of how they can preserve the environment and the danger of throwing old fishing tools in the sea.”
Abdullah Mohsen, a 46-year-old Emirati diving coach at Dubai Voluntary Diving Team, said that seven people from the dive team had taken part, staying underwater for one hour each to collect as much rubbish as possible.
“It was challenging as most of the rubbish was buried under the sand and was stuck, like the fishing nets and cages, while some of it was heavy, such as the tyres, boat engine parts and plastic chairs,” said Mr Mohsen.
“We started our group in 1995 and since then we participated in many initiatives that focus on preserving marine life and its environment.”
rhaza@thenational.ae