Increasing number of commercial vessels are polluting the UAE waters by dumping waste into the sea, affecting the marine life.
Marine life at risk
In November, 2017, nearly 56 empty containers were dropped into the sea near Jebal Ali and it took the authorities three months to clean up.
A Dubai police official cited that it was an accident but they considered it an environmental crisis, polluting marine life such as fish, turtles and sharks. The sea is connected to some other desalination plants, the incident could have affected the flow of sewer water into the city. The maritime force spent three months collecting the containers.
Waste recovered
In a recent incident, Dubai Municipality recovered 16.3 tonnes of goods and waste from a commercial ship that sank in Dubai Creek. The incident came to light when the vessel collided with one of the breakwaters and reportedly sank.
Sea barriers were placed around the sinking vessel to prevent the waste from floating and spreading in the Creek waters due to strong sea currents. The team subsequently recovered goods fallen from the ship, mostly electrical appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners, which pose a hazard to the marine environment.
Lt Col Ali Abduallah Al Naqbi, head of maritime rescue at Dubai Police said that he and his team along with volunteers collect tonnes of rubbish thrown into the sea and creeks. They have until now collected tonnes of rubbish, such as tyres, plastic junk and soft drinks waste.
Intention to protect the waters
Habiba Al Marashi, chairperson of the Emirates Environment Group, urged Gulf countries to increase environmental protection in their waters.
Ms Al Marashi said, “All units concerned with marine security must collaborate and protect our waters from pollution. Heftier fines must be imposed on those who dump waste into the sea. Although many campaigns about preserving the environment have been launched, some people refuse to listen and dump waste into the water”.
She also stressed that dumping waste on daily basis leads to negative impact which adversely affects the coastal marine life and humans.
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Source: The National
