Rotary, Foundation sanitise beachfront in Lagos

Rotary Club of Falomo, in conjunction with Eco Restoration Foundation, has begun a massive sensitisation clean-up exercise to sanitise the beachfront in Lagos State for a healthy environment.

President of the club, Sandra Ovie, said the exercise aims to sustain the ecosystem and attract tourists.

He promised that the exercise would be a continuum that would extend to other areas of the coastal tourist sites.

The club has, however, donated two 750-litre galvanised bins for recyclable wastes and three 240-litre heavy-duty industrial debris collectors to residents of the Elegushi Beachfront.

Ovie said: “All the debris thrown into the water by fun-seekers makes the environment untidy. So, we decided as a board to clean up the beach and sustain the ecosystem.”

“In the course of doing this, we also educated the people on the repercussions of throwing debris into the ocean, which comes back to our system through the fish we eat, which has hazardous implications on our health.

“We have provided waste bins for proper disposal. We are partnering with the Eco Restoration Foundation, and it is a continuum. So far, we have spent about N2 million to buy these bins and other materials for this project.”

Also, a representative of the Foundation, Dr Stephane Waniko, said the ocean, which occupies 71 per cent of the earth’s surface, must be sustained in Nigeria to promote the frontiers of the nation’s economy.

She said: “UNESCO gave me the responsibility of promoting ocean literacy in Nigeria. To be responsible for the environment and mitigate climate change issues, we developed this initiative, in collaboration with the Rotary Club Falomo, to promote environmental sustainability through this sanitation exercise on the beach.

“We would keep up with the pace of awareness sensitisation to the inhabitants on securing the environment by proper waste disposal in line with the vision of a cleaner Lagos. Waste can generate another means of income. When properly segregated, it can be used for biogas or recycling. Waste can be a way of empowering people.”

According to Dr Raphael Shelle of the Physical and Chemical Oceanography Department at the Nigerian Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR), Lagos, the implications of dirty beaches cannot be over-emphasised.

Project Director of the Club, Joshua Akpan, charged other organisations to do similar things on other beachfronts to protect the ecosystem and maintain the waterfronts for attractions.

“If we do this, our beaches will be cleaner and attract more tourists,” he said.