Written By Ramadhan Kambi 📝
In new efforts to make Malindi resort town clean, the Malindi Beach Management Unit (BMU) has launched a program of buying plastic wastes collected from the beach.
With this intervention, all the trash consisting of plastic bottles are now a source of income for those taking part in the Malindi monthly clean-up exercise organized by the Progress Welfare Association of Malindi (PWAM).
According to Mr Yunus Aboud the Malindi BMU chairman, they got a foreign donor who is buying the plastics at Sh15 per kilogram breathing a new lease of life.
Addressing journalists after taking part in the Malindi monthly clean up exercise organized by PWAM along the Malindi beachfront beach which was attended by school children, stakeholders of PWAM, such as Jambo jet airline staff, hoteliers, and youth Aboud said most of the plastics in the area are now being collected by the youth on drugs.
He said currently when they see the plastics, they know its trash which will become cash, and collect it before selling them to them at their offices.
For the plastics during the clean-up, he told the participants from different schools to take them to the BMU offices where they were weighed before they were given money to take home.
In an interview, he said the donor who buys the plastics has an organization that does recycling that’s why there is a demand for plastic wastes.
“It adds value to ass because as we do the clean-ups, we end up getting cash out of the trash collected in form of plastics,” he said.
The BMU chairman called on all those with interest in cleaning the beaches to take advantage of the market and collect any form of plastics and will be rewarded with cash after cleaning.
He said the project began late last year after the donor heard about his efforts to clean the beaches so as to keep the environment clean.
Plastics are a threat to marine life including turtles among other species.
“Many youths especially those who are on drugs normally do not go fishing but when they heard about the program of buying plastic bottles they normally come to clean and get the cash some get up to Sh. 2000, Sh. 3000,” he said adding that currently, the beach is clean.
Robert Karume a business many in Malindi who was part of the team of stakeholders from PWAM doing cleaning said along the beachfront there were a lot of wastes but they managed to clean them.
He said they found plastics, glass, and many other types of wastes thrown on the beach which they collected.
Karume said children who took part in the clean-up were very helpful as they made it possible to collect a lot of rubbish.
“Part of the rubbish in form of plastics will be sold to some people who are working with plastics so we are very happy with the work that has been done today,” he said.
He also called on more people to join in in the monthly cleanup and thanked the government for easing up the Covid-19 restrictions saying it would help revive the economy.
Emmanuel Kombe a pupil from one of the schools that participated said they were happy to be part of the clean-up as they learned that they can use the plastic bottles to set up nursery beds at school.
Mr Kombe said they were about 20 pupils from his school who came for the exercise which will help keep the environment clean and attract tourists.
“Mine is emphasizing on the children that they should not sit idle during this holiday, they should be organized and form just little groups to clean their compound in their community,’ he said.
Evans Owino from Jambo Jet Airline Kenya said they were happy to partner with PWAM in the monthly clean up and as stakeholders, they feel to be part of the community.
He said the environment was part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Pillars and have been partnering with PWAM and will continue with the partnership and support.
