By Ntando Makhubu

The filthy state of the coastline and contaminated water along the East London beaches could cost the city what little chance it had of receiving the coveted Blue Flag status.

In what environmental experts said was a danger to marine life, the country’s beaches were left scattered with tons of litter after the festive season celebrations. East London beaches were not spared the filth.

In the aftermath of the festive season, clean-up campaigners picked up tons of broken bottles, glass and plastic, left by thousands of beach revellers over this period.

“Our coastline is in a terrible condition, we might never get the Blue Flag status,” said East London environmental consultant Dr Alan Carter.

According to Carter, the ongoing failure to manage waste meant that toxins found in discarded trash was washed out by the rain and into the rivers, eventually making its way into the sea and causing pollution.

Carter, who also chairs the Buffalo City Environmental Trust, said: “There is also a problem with the abuse of the sewer system, into which people dump rubbish and cause blockages.”

Raw sewage then gets redirected and ends up in the sea.

A Daily Dispatch Trash Busters campaign at the end of last year revealed piles of trash dumped across the city’s landscape. Household, garden and building rubble was illegally dumped everywhere.

The campaign was driven by readers who were angry at the municipality’s failure to ensure cleanliness in the suburbs and central business district.

Carter said he had first-hand experience of people throwing their household litter into the Buffalo River in Dimbaza.

“Waste and litter within the entire Buffalo River catchment that is not properly disposed of ends up in the river when it rains,” he said.

“All this contributes to the polluted state of the Buffalo River and other rivers, which in turn pollutes our coastal waters in the immediate vicinity of East London.”

He said East London beaches do not comply with national water quality standards.

The Buffalo City Municipality said they had programmes to make people aware of the environmental hazards of littering.

“There is an International Coastal Cleanup week, keep your city clean campaign, the National Marine week, displays at the Aquarium on litter, signs at all beaches requesting no littering and continued requests for public to utilise rubbish bins and recycle points ,” spokesperson Sam Ngwenya said.

He said that wind and rain washed litter into waterways and rivers where marine animals consumed plastic mistakenly, assuming it was edible, resulting in suffering and death.

Source: Daily Dispatch