In Dakar, volunteers clear seashore plagued by medical waste
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Volunteers gathered to clear a seashore strewn with used compresses, soiled needles and vials of blood on Saturday, apparently discarded by close by hospitals in Senegal’s capital Dakar.
The town seashore, named Cap-Manuel, is bordered by turquoise waters on one aspect and building websites on the opposite.
It is a hit with locals, and kids typically use it as a soccer pitch.
However a video printed by environmentalist Riad Kawar in late January provoked outcry within the West African metropolis.
It confirmed dozens of syringes, catheters and used medical tubes dumped on the seashore.
Docs later advised Kawar that the syringes got here from infectious-disease models and will have been incinerated, in keeping with him.
“One thing needed to be executed,” Kawar mentioned, gazing at a gaggle of volunteers heading in the direction of the seashore.
Some 200 volunteers of all ages and several other nationalities braved the solar to take away the medical waste.
El Hadj Abdoulaye Seck, a twin French-Senegalese nationwide on vacation in Dakar, was one of many folks scouring the sands.
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“This venture is of capital significance,” he mentioned with a smile, including each citizen’s obligation was to “take part within the growth of our nation.”
Close by, a gaggle of younger ladies combed the sand for discarded vials. “This seashore is ours. We’ve to maintain it clear for future generations,” mentioned 25-year-old administration pupil Nogaye Diop.
The waste was apparently thrown off a cliff overlooking the seashore, which is beneath close by hospitals.
It’s unclear who’s liable for the mess.
Dibocor Sene, in command of hygiene at a kind of hospitals, mentioned the incinerator ordinarily speculated to burn medical waste is out of order.
He added {that a} devoted waste-storage room typically overflows too.
Native authorities have opened an investigation into the waste-strewn seashore, however numerous actors together with town authorities and the ministry of well being sought to shift blame when contacted by AFP.
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