#National News

Gambia Ocean Heroes prepares for river cleanup exercise

Mar 5, 2021, 1:11 PM | Article By: Fatou Bojang

The Gambia Ocean Heroes (GOH) in partnership with Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) will on Saturday 6th March, 2021 organise a river clean up exercise at Fajikunda Farokono.

The exercise is geared towards supporting and raising awareness on threats posed by uncontrolled waste pollution in the wetlands and the negative impacts it has on the marine ecosystem and communities along the Gambia river.

Muhammed Hydara, coordinator Gambia Ocean Heroes since their inception in 2018, said GOH with support from partners has collected 339 tons of trash dumped along the coastal communities.

He dwelled on some of their activities, which he said, includes community and school outreaches as well as coastal surveys to advocate for climate resilience and promote partnership with coastal communities.

He thus called on volunteers to take part in this exercise, saying marine debris from coastal communities has now reached an alarming stage.

“To reduce the risks of this problem, everyone should work together to come up with an alternative or sustainable mechanisms to mitigate the waste crisis, and work towards protecting the aquatic environments in The Gambia.” he emphasized.