Clean-up drive launched to mark World Tourism Day

AMMAN — Marking the World Tourism Day and World Cleanup Day, the “Himmeh w Lammeh” public initiative — the 14th round of “Baladak Beitak” (“your country is your home” in English) clean-up campaign — on Saturday launched a drive to clean up the country’s tourist destinations and parks.

Thousands of volunteers have joined the mass cleanup, organised by the Environment Ministry and Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) and the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development among others, according to a RSCN statement.   

Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Shahahdeh said that the nationwide campaign aims at changing “the culture of violations” against national parks, pointing out that the initiative coincides with the establishment of 12 sustainable parks, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Expressing support for the initiative, Dutch Ambassador to Jordan Barbara Joziasse said that the embassy’s participation in this cleanup event is intended to raise awareness on the impact that improper garbage disposal has on the environment.

The initiative also aims to highlight the importance of the Kingdom’s tourism sector, as well as draw attention to improper waste-disposal practices and the harms of waste, the statement added.