Litterbugs at it again

Parks and beaches across Oman have borne the brunt during the National Day holidays, with the holidaymakers littering these places.

Visitors have thrown all types of waste, including food waste, soft drink cans, chocolate wrappers, charcoal waste, plastic, etc without any concern for the environment.

“The waste that has piled up at Riyam Park is huge. I wonder why there is no cleaning staff around. People should have been more careful,” said a visitor.

Visitors to the Al Sharqiyah Governorate, who spent time at the Turtle Beach Resort and the Pebble Beach, as well as other beaches across the country, had the same complaint.

The civic authority has, from time to time, been conducting cleanliness awareness campaigns through hoardings and social media, while the Royal Oman Police (ROP) keeps tabs on litterbugs and fines them for throwing trash in public places.

Anyone found spoiling the beauty of the city or any local tourist destinations can be booked for multiple charges.

“Littering at public places or throwing garbage recklessly are offences that can be booked under civic law as well as criminal procedure,” a source at the Muscat Municipality has said.

“Fines ranging from RO 100 to RO 1,000 would be slapped on those littering public places. People have been asked to refrain from such acts,” the source said.

He said that littering public places is not only causing inconvenience to the public, but also sending a wrong message to the outside world about Oman’s “spotless environment”. “Those spending time at the tourist spots and parks are expected to clear the waste themselves,” he added.