Oman environment: Oil firms’volunteers remove 400kg trash from Seeb beach

Muscat: Four hundred kilogrammes of rubbish, including bottles, plastic bags, and metal waste were removed by 50 volunteers from Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) with colleagues from other major Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) oil companies from Al Seeb beach.
The PDO volunteers carried out the clean-up campaign with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA) and Muscat Municipality teams.
“As a good corporate citizen, PDO is committed to protecting, and raising awareness of, the Omani environment and supporting beach clean-up initiatives is part of this fundamental strategic goal of the company,” said PDO External Affairs and Value Creation Director Abdul-Amir Abdul-Hussein Al Ajmi.
“We all need to work together to ensure our wonderful natural environment and coastline is preserved and I thank all the volunteers for their efforts in promoting this noble cause,” he added.
The activity was part of a commitment from all GCC countries which are members of the Regional Clean Sea Organisation (RECSO). RECSO is an oil industry co-operative organisation based on the concept of “mutual aid” and was officially launched in 1972 by 13 founder members, including PDO, which is the only Omani oil and gas company member.
The organisation was set up as a collective response to major oil pollution incidents and works to achieve the common objective of a “Clean Gulf.”
Other oil companies participating in similar clean-ups beach in their own countries included Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Qatar Petroleum.
PDO Beach Clean-up Campaign Co-ordinator Hamed Al Haddabi, PDO’s Terminal and Marine Delivery Team Lead, said: “We worked well with our colleagues from MECA and Muscat Municipality and were pleased with what achieved. Seeb beach is one of Oman’s most beautiful beaches and keeping it free of rubbish not only protects its look but also reduces the potential harm to birds and marine species,” Hamed said.
“The clean-up is one of many environmental initiatives taken by PDO which is dedicated to ensuring that all its operations and activities are performed in an environmentally sustainable manner,” he added.