Dubai Municipality held its annual “Marasina” campaign from 15 -17 February to raise the awareness among the public, especially sailors, owners and workers of boats, workers of shipping companies and oil tankers and fishermen as well as school students about the importance of preserving the marine environment.

The campaign highlighted the problems of the marine environment and sought to protect it by intensifying efforts to keep it clean. Community members from various nationalities participated in the campaign to clean up and recycle the waste recovered from the bottom of the sea and the creek.

Launching the campaign at Mamzar Beach, Eng. Hussein Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality said that the campaign stems from the belief of Dubai Municipality that the sea constitutes an integral environmental system and pollution brought by ships could have a devastating effect on the marine ecology.

The campaign, the sixth in a row organized by Dubai Municipality, was opened at the Mamzar area with presentations of environmental skits by students from Salma Al Ansariya School.

An awareness tent was also set up at Mamzar beach which showcased the achievements of the Marasina campaign over the past five years in addition to the achievements of the Clean Up the World campaign and the contribution of the Waste Management Department in cleaning up the marine environment.

The Marasina campaign also included cleanup operations at Jaddaf area on Wednesday with the participation of a number of divers from the Marine Rescue Department and the Marine Pollution Control Centre at Dubai Police and the Fire and Rescue Department at Civil Defence with the support of Waste Management, Environment of Dubai Municipality and Jaddaf Dubai. The divers will help remove abandoned ships submerged in the bottom of the creek, estimated to weigh hundreds of tons.