JEDDAH, 26 July — Forty-three Filipino divers in Jeddah made good use of their special skills last Friday by cleaning up the Public Beach area of Al-Nawras Island Resort along the Corniche road.
About 1.5 tons of waste, composed of plastic materials, bottles, tires, and some metal components, were collected in the beach and underwater cleanup, said activity organizer Johnny F. Liboon, a master scuba diver trainer of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI).
Liboon said the cleanup, part of the PADI’s AWARE Program, was in support of the ongoing Jeddah 22 Summer Festival.
Composed mostly of members of Liboon’s AquaDivers International, the cleanup activity also had dive masters Greg Quimos and Orly Alba of the International Sport Divers and Anglers Association (ISDAA) participating.
Red Sea Divers also supported the activity by providing several complete sets of scuba gears, while Hosam Al-Jamal of Al-Nawras Island Resort management provided plastic collection bags and lent his work boat for the diving activity.
After a job well done, the cleanup group urged other citizens to do their share in keeping the beaches and the underwater areas and reefs clean by not throwing their wastes indiscriminately.
“The litter not only destroys the aesthetic value of our beaches but can be a death-trap for the animals living there,” said the group in a statement.
“Plastic materials endangers the lives of the marine animals, including birds as well, through ingestion, suffocation and/or entanglement,” it said.
“We should adopt a policy that whatever we bring to the beaches, we should bring it back home,” the statement added.
Liboon said further beach and underwater cleanup activities are scheduled in September in observance of the International Beaches Cleanup Week.