- Title: ALGERIA: Algerians rally for coastal clean-up
- Date: 23rd January 2012
- Summary: LA PEROUSE, ALGIERS, ALGERIA (JANUARY 20, 2012) (REUTERS) BEACH SIGN SAYING SWIMMING IS ALLOWED WIDE OF THE BEACH OF TAMENFOUST WITH RUBBISH ALL ALONG THE BEACH WIDE OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND RESIDENTS STARTING THE CLEAN-UP VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CLEANING THE BEACH MORE OF PEOPLE CLEANING THE BEACH, WEARING BOOTS AND GLOVES, AND USING SHOVELS AND PLASTIC BAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Ara
- Embargoed: 7th February 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Algeria, Algeria
- Country: Algeria
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVA1HRQKLQ3T71W5KQCBP11GWK2N
- Story Text: Appalled by the amount of pollution washing up on their shores, a group of volunteers banded together on Friday (January 20) to clean up the rubbish on a beach in the Bay of Algiers.
The beach of Tamenfoust in the coastal town of la Perouse is hit by a weekly wave of rubbish, washed in from all around the Bay of Algiers. The sandy beach, which should be a popular place for families, was more akin to a rubbish tip.
"When you see such a thing your heart aches. And you can't stay without doing anything, with arms folded. The aim is that the people of this area help us, it's their beach and our beach and the main aim is that the town halls get involved much more than that, they have to come each week to clean the beach because this damage will happen again and again - all the rubbish of the Bay of Algiers washes over here," said 27-year-old volunteer Anya.
The group of young people saw how polluted the beach had become and decided to do something about it. Using social networking site Facebook, they mobilised a team of volunteers to tackle the trash.
"This is abhorrent, how can people accept that their country get polluted this way, where everyone is suppose to come here to enjoy the nice beach, the kids also are supposed to play here," said 30-year-old volunteer Yamanda.
She added that they decided to take matters into their own hands when they realised the authorities were not doing anything to solve the problem.
"We are group of young people who saw the beach in this horrible condition, so we said, 'our authorities are not cleaning the beaches,' so we decided to come and clean it. But as we are not an association, we collected the money (donations) alone and we bought these tools and we came to start cleaning," Yamanda added.
One local resident was very appreciative of the volunteers' efforts.
"The beach had been dirty for a while, and it's a pleasure to see a group of volunteers cleaning the beach, it's a good thing, it's good for us and for everyone. At least there won't be any disease here now," said Messaoud as he overlooked the clean-up underway.
The volunteers say their first goal was to clean up the beach so that children and families could start enjoying it again. Secondly, they want to motivate the residents living near the beach to look after their environment. And thirdly, they want to pressure the authorities to take a more active approach to the problem of pollution.
Typically, authorities only send in a clean-up team before the summer holiday season, but this only scrapes the surface of the amount of work that needs to be done. The volunteers on Tamenfoust beach hope that they can show what can be accomplished with a little teamwork and inspire the locals to do the same. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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