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Environment

20 tons of waste collected from Panama beaches

la prensa

Volunteers from public, private, and educational institutions, as well as the general public, joined forces to clean up Panama`s beaches and rivers.

The final disposal of waste has become a never-ending problem. Just yesterday, in the district of Panama, during the XVI cleaning of beaches, coasts and rivers, "approximately 20 tons of waste were collected," informed the head of the national sanitation department, Harmodio Montaner.

The activity, organized by environmental groups ANCON, Panama Verde, and Panama Audubon Society, brought together a number of volunteers from public, private, and educational institutions, as well as the general public.

Alida Spadafora, executive director of ANCON, said that cleanliness is a symbolic activity to create awareness among people about the damage done "to the environment where we live and thus to ourselves."

Raisa Banfield, executive director of a national environmental advocacy center, said that witnessing  the amount of rubbish on the beach at Costa del Este gave her a mixed feeling of "pain and hope."   She attributed the pain to the amount of waste that was found and her hope to the young people who voluntarily came out to help with the cleanup.

Moreover, unlike previous years when this activity was carried out, all the material collected from participating beaches and rivers was properly recycled.  Kelly Garcés, fifth year student of St. Mary private school, said she and her colleagues collected about 300 plastic bottles on the beach at Costa del Este.