The staff
and the members of the office of the US embassy in The Gambia, recently joined
forces with St Joseph’s Senior Secondary School on a cleansing exercise at the
Laybata Beach.
The cleansing exercise lasted for more than two hours, and was aimed at keeping the beach clean and neat, and to make the country litter-free.
Speaking at the cleansing exercise, the US Embassy charge d’affaires, Michael Arietti, said the students of St Joseph’s came to render a voluntary service, to make sure that the beach was clean and neat.
He added that the school came to join with them in the exercise, based on an invitation they sent to the school.
He pointed that the school was attempting to raise funds, and they invited the school to join them to clean the beach, and they in turn handed over a financial gift to the school to support their excursion to Dakar.
He used the opportunity to appeal to the public to desist from littering in public places, adding that littering had environmental implications, health implications, and economic implications.
The US embassy official added that they are happy to clean the beach that was littered with the support of the students.
Ms Hannah Kippy Coker, principal of the school, said their mission was to participate in the cleansing exercise, so as to raise funds for their trip to Dakar.
They are willing and able to provide a service in return for support to facilitate their trip to Dakar, either in cash or kind because they wanted to visit many places in Dakar, including Goree Island, she added.
