A hefty fine, but needed for conservation, say people

Muneer Thazhe Purayil, an English teacher at Tabarak Private School, who often takes students from the school to clean beaches in Muscat, said that the municipality’s decision to impose hefty fines is needed.

Citizen impact

“Ordinary citizens, when working together, choose to make a huge impact on the environment in either a positive or negative way. Things that hurt the environment include littering, failing to recycle and destroying the fauna that grows in a particular area,” the teacher who focuses on green ini- tiatives with his students, said.

“It is important to focus on this as we have to make sure that the environment is preserved for future generations. However, people fail to keep their surroundings clean. So, such hefty fines will help,” the teacher said.

He has organised several Go Green Campaigns regularly in the school with Omani girl students studying at Class XI and XII for the last few years.

Positive step

“We think it is a positive step from Muscat Municipality as these kind of regulations need to be enforced by authorities to be taken seriously by public,” said Yusra M. Jaffer, Public Relations Manager at ESO.

Advice

“Our advice is for the public to enjoy Oman’s natural environment and leave nothing but footprints behind. If you can’t find a rubbish bin, then you should hold on to your waste until you find an appropriate place to dispose of it. Each individual must do their bit to protect these areas.” “Although an OMR1,000 fine seems like a big amount, it’s nothing compared to the cost of damage to the environment caused by littering.”