Members of the Family Care Organsation (FCO), a non-governmental organisation in the country, recently embarked on a set-setal exercise in the vicinity of the Palma Rima Beach Hotel.
Speaking at the site of the cleansing exercise, Lamin Fadera, health affairs manager of FCO, said they decided to embark on the exercise because it can contribute to reducing diseases in the society.
He says it is good to have the environment cleansed to prepare for the tourism season that is just around the corner. “It is good that when they come to The Gambia, for the season, they find the beachside clean, where they like to spend most of their time enjoying themselves,” he said, adding: “The beach should be cleaned to cut down the prevalence of malaria in the area.”
For her part, Fatoumata Ceesay, assistant youth programme officer of FCO, said they had been conducting sett-setal, “but this is our first time of cleaning the beachside”. “We will continue the trend, because people have sidelined the beachside.”
She also urged people to join them to make the beach rubbish-free.
Lamin Fatajo, executive director of the FCO, in his remarks, says protection and conservation is part of their agenda.
Mr Fatajo added that the FCO believes that the biodiversity of The Gambia needs to be well protected, “for the sea animals to live safely in the waters without migrating to other parts of the sub-region”.
He said: “If our ocean is full of litter, it will not be a better home for the sea species; so, that being the case, the FCO is also participating to complement government’s effort to eradicate environmental hazards.”
He called on all youth organisations to join the environmental cleansing exercise, “since it is a worthy cause”.
