Fri | Mar 29, 2024

Tough task cleaning Port Maria beach

Published:Monday | September 17, 2018 | 12:00 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Two students and teachers from St Mary Technical High School pause for a photo during the clean-up at Rio Nuevo Beach in St Mary on Saturday.
Volunteers clean up Port Maria Beach on Saturday.
Volunteers clean up Port Maria Beach on Saturday.
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PORT MARIA, St Mary:

Several volunteers turned out on International Coastal Clean-up Day last Saturday to give beaches in St Mary a much-needed tidying.

The Port Maria Beach, near to the parish library in the capital town, and the Rio Nuevo Beach, close to Tower Isle, were the focus.

Members of the Mystic Mountain Rainforest Foundation, along with volunteers from the National Youth Service (NYS), and the Kiwanis Club, tackled the unenviable task of cleaning the Port Maria beach, which was in a deplorable condition.

"It's in a real, real mess, but we're doing the best we can," said Ezekiel Russell, programme manager for Mystic Mountain Rainforest Foundation.

"Most of what is here is taken here by the ocean, and there's a river that runs through Port Maria that carries a lot of the garbage, whether from businesses, households, down to the beach. So we have a lot of debris - a tremendous amount of styrofoam, plastic bottles, other containers, household items, personal items as well that are deposited on the beach."

Gregory Williams, who led the NYS team, said that the volunteers were trying their best to get the beach cleaned up despite the condition.

"It's in a real mess, and it's a shame to see how the beach looks, and it's one of our attractions. We are trying to get it cleaned up, trying our best to ensure that we make the place look beautiful. That's the overall aim," Williams pointed out.

 

BENEFIT TO EVERYONE

 

"I think it is everybody's duty to ensure that the beaches are clean because it benefits everybody," he added.

The state of the beach meant it couldn't be cleaned in one day, and Pagee Beach, located towards the eastern end of Port Maria, which was also targeted, was left, untouched with another clean-up day being planned to complete the clean-up of both beaches.

Russell said that this would be done before the first of October.

Meanwhile, at Rio Neuvo Beach, founder and president of Elliott Farmers Community Enterprise, Marvalee Russell, led a team of 15 students from St Mary Technical in Richmond, where she also teaches, to do the clean-up. They were joined by Clement Goldson of the farmers group and US Peace Corps Volunteer, Walker Oneil.

"We are cleaning up just about anything that is inorganic, so we're looking at plastic bottles, food wrappers, discarded mesh and nets, anything that could go into the waters and become detrimental to our coastal environment," Russell told The Gleaner.

Goldson said that the beach was chosen as it was still a free public beach and also a fishing beach.

Fishermen at the beach, pleased with the clean-up efforts by the young volunteers, offered to prepare fish for the group, throwing out their original plan to have patties for lunch.

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