Dubai
I would like to highlight the issue of litter floating around the water taxi stations around Dubai. A few days ago, at the Al Seef Station, in Deira, I spotted litter in the water. I am not sure if people threw it into the water, or if it was due to an accumulation of trash from other locations.
The authorities spent so much money to make these stations and improve the transportation network in the emirate. It is up to residents to help in maintaining them.
We use this station to transfer from one location to another, and tourists like to take pictures and enjoy the beauty of the place. However, it seems that some people are careless.
Khadiyur Rahman, a driver based in Dubai, visits the area every day for his morning exercise and spots litter in the water daily.
He said: “Seeing plastic bags and paper in the water makes me sad. People don’t realise there are fish in these water bodies and their oxygen supply gets affected, as most of the waste is made of plastic, which is non-biodegradable.”
Yousuf Khan, an office worker in Dubai, agrees with his sentiment.
He said: “It terribly pains me to see so much garbage. We read about birds and fish being affected by tons of plastic in water bodies. They tend to eat it without knowing the effects of plastic and it kills them. I wish we could recycle this garbage. If we do not litter, the oceans would be cleaner. It would be better for marine life and our health.”
According to US-based Plastic Oceans Initiative, we are now producing nearly 300 million tons of plastic every year, half of which is for single use. More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in the oceans every year.
We must all take the initiative to help the Municipality to keep the water clean. We should not keep taking our resources for granted. The time has come to clean up our act.
— The reader is a sales coordinator based in Dubai.
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