Volunteers clean Botahtaung Jetty to protect river ecosystem
Source: The Myanmar Times
Date: 26 February 2018
The Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) led a clean-up of Botahtaung Jetty on Friday to protect the Yangon River ecosystem.
The primary aim of the project was to create public awareness about river sustainability as Yangon port and rivers become more vital to Myanmar's growing economy.
"The reason we chose this area is because when people throw garbage and plastic wherever they want, which can easily get into the river and threaten its ecosystem," said Daw Than Myint Aung of the YCDC.
According to the committee, over 300 people took part in the clean-up project, which was the third one organised by construction company Haskoning DHV Myanmar Co Ltd.
The YCDC, Myanmar Port Authority, Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems, the Netherlands Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar Maritime University, and clients and partners of Haskoning DHV participated in the event.
The manager of Botahtaung Jetty said: "We clean the jetty every day and collect nearly 20 dust bins of trash from the Myanmar Port Authority and the YCDC but people don't obey.
Waste management is becoming a major challenge for local authorities.
About 2600 tonnes of garbage are churned out daily by Yangon, of which only 10pc is recyclable.
According to the Environmental Conservation and Cleaning Department of YCDC, the city collects 95pc of garbage in the city.
"The YCDC has 28,000 dustbins across the city and nearly 400 trucks are deployed daily to pick up garbage and clean the city," said U Aung Myint Maw, deputy head of the Environmental Conservation and Cleaning Department.
Ko Khon Thet Aung, who participated in the event, hopes clean-ups will be conducted regularly in areas like Inya Lake, Kandawgyi Lake and Maha Bandula Park to promote awareness about properly disposing of rubbish and plastic to protect the environment.
"The YCDC should educate the public about the hazards of plastic and garbage to the environment.
"I am happy to join in this campaign to clean up Yangon City," he added.
