国际英语新闻:Feature: Kuwait launches mass beach campaign to mark World Cleanup Day

KUWAIT CITY, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait launched on Saturday a mass campaign to mark the World Cleanup Day by promoting the culture of cleaning the environment in the Kuwaiti society.

The cleanup campaign at the beach in Jahra Governorate, which attracted more than 5,000 participants, is the first of its kind in Kuwait on the occasion of World Cleanup Day, and will enhance Kuwait's environmental position internationally, according to the organizer Sheikha Intisar Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah, chief of Alnowair, a non-profit initiative dedicated to promoting a positive attitude in Kuwait.

"There are many plastic materials thrown around the area. Unfortunately because of the salinity of the soil and the high temperature these materials began to decompose," noted Samira Omar, director-general of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, during the campaign.

Among the volunteers who teamed together to relieve the vital Kuwaiti beach of environmental pollutants and hazards were about 20 employees from China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC).

"This is the first time for me and my colleagues to participate in an environmental campaign of Kuwait. We have collected more than 40 bags of garbage at the beach despite the hot weather," said Liu Lianghaoyue, a Chinese employee from the department of general affairs of CGGC's project in Kuwait.

"As a participant in the Belt and Road Initiative, our company shoulders social responsibilities in Kuwait to show the spirit of our Chinese enterprises and make Kuwait more beautiful," she added.

Sajjad Dhanse, an engineer from Kuwait National Petroleum Company, said he is a frequent participant in social activity in Kuwait.

"You get happy to see locals and residents help each other and come forward to clean the environment," Dhanse said.

Rahaf Shadeed, a Kuwaiti teacher, came to the beach with her sister for the mass cleanup campaign.

"I feel good to be in street cleaners' shoes to feel how hot it could be around here. That's why we should appreciate them more and keep our environment clean," she said.

Armenian Ambassador to Kuwait Sarmen Baghdasaryan is one of the many foreign envoys who joined the beach cleanup.

"There are many goals for this initiative, the most important of which is to make Kuwait clean, but what (also) matters most is to restore the link between man and nature," he told Xinhua.

The Lebanese community in Kuwait is also part of the voluntary campaign.

"It is our duty to participate because Kuwait is our second country," said Kareem Darwish, secretary-general of the Lebanese Business Council in Kuwait.