A civil society organisation, Africa Global Development for Positive Change Initiative (ADI) has called for international collaborations to reduce plastic wastes in the ocean.
The International President of the organisation, Prince Dan Mbachi said this in an interview with The Tide during a clean shore exercise at Eagle Island Beach, Port Harcourt as part of activities to mark the 2019 World Ocean Day celebration in Port Harcourt.
The clean shore exercise was organised by the organization in collaboration with Youth Love Egypt Foundation. Mbachi said that the increasing numbers of plastic wastes in the ocean has constituted a threat to the survival of living organisations in the water.
He particularly stressed the need for the three tier governments in the country to come up with tough policies that will check the indiscriminate throwing of plastic wastes into the rivers.
The Activist also called for government policies that will sanction plastic producing companies, in the country.
“We have to clean up the ocean, some people just throw plastic wastes into the ocean without knowing the dangers involved. We have to take step to recover all the plastic wastes in the oceans, he said.
According to him, uncontrolled use of plastics had done a lot of harm to the environment, stressing that time has come to stop the bad practice with the view to saving both the environment, human and a aquatic lives.
The ADI international President further said that his organisation in collaboration with other sister organizations and volunteers have been moving from beach to beach to pick plastic materials that constitute danger to the environment, noting the materials are assembled and sent to where they cannot get back to the river or ocean.
Also speaking, the founder of Youth Love Egypt Foundation, Mr. Ahmed Fathy, said that three tons of plastic wastes were collated as part of the clean shore campaign.
He said that the clean shore campaign was initiated by the Foundation to reduce the number of plastic wastes in North and West African countries.
The Egyptian also stressed the need for government in the North and West African sub regions to work together towards the reduction of plastics wastes in their water ways.
World Ocean Day is celebrated 8th June, every year across the world.
The theme for this years celebration was “Our Planet Ocean. Together we have the power to protect them”.