This year’s International Coastal Cleanup Day was marked in Hulhumalé yesterday.

Initiated by Environment Protection Agency, the national event took place in Hulhumalé, which was supported by Housing Development Corporation and other government institutions such as Ministry of Environment and Energy, Maldivian Red Crescent, Maldives National Defence Force, Maldives Police Service and Maldives Inland Revenue. Schools, private organizations, businesses and members of the public actively took part in the cleanup as well.

The event was kicked off in the morning by Minister of Environment and Energy Abdulla Ziyad. The aim of commemorating this day is to create awareness, and to ensure active involvement from all to keep our coasts, reefs, seas, beaches and the surrounding environment clean.

This important international campaign commemoration coincided with HDC’s third Monthly Neighbourhood Cleanup, a cleaning event HDC has initiated and carried for the past two consecutive months.

While the national event took place in Hulhumalé, many islands across the nation carried out coastal cleanup activities concurrently.

A lot of the waste and plastics thrown or washed up due to some of the negative actions of those using the beaches and seas destroy the coasts and our environment. Hence, HDC firmly believes that conscious thoughts, responsible actions combined with cleaning efforts such as these makes is vital to keep our environment clean.

Photo: MIRA