Divers clean Qawra seabed

More than 25 divers have cleaned the seabed on the Qawra coast in an initiative organised by Alternattiva Demokratika and Diveshack.

Rubbish collected included tyres, hundreds of glass and plastic bottles and metal objects.

AD chairman Arnold Cassola told a news conference following the clean-up that around 60,000 divers visited Malta and Gozo for a diving holiday each year.

This fact alone should make taking care of the sea and making sure it was fit for recreational use a priority policy area. The coast was already overdeveloped - what remained had to be protected for the benefit all, he said.

Activity organiser Simon Galea said that since tourism was vital for the Maltese economy, Malta and Gozo should cater for a more diversified tourist market.

“We need more tourists who spend more money in activities which generate wealth in different sectors of the Maltese economy through environmentally sustainable activities.

“In order to reach this aim we need to protect and embellish the environment. Most of all we need to reward innovative private sector initiatives to attract quality tourists in sectors like diving, eco tourism, cultural tourism and agro tourism.”

The St Paul’s Bay council provided the skips and bins for the activity.