{"id":3892,"date":"2019-12-18T15:29:47","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T15:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/gambia\/?p=3892"},"modified":"2019-12-18T15:29:47","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T15:29:47","slug":"dutch-tourist-couple-on-beach-cleansing-exercise-urge-gambians-to-reciprocate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/dutch-tourist-couple-on-beach-cleansing-exercise-urge-gambians-to-reciprocate","title":{"rendered":"Dutch Tourist Couple on Beach Cleansing Exercise Urge Gambians To Reciprocate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Dutch couple Bonne Bergsma and Wieker De Jong, said they are now engaged in cleaning Gambia\u2019s beautiful beaches every year, when they come to the country for holidays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The couple urged Gambians to do the same in order to restore the fading glory of the country\u2019s beautiful sandy beaches as a shiny and \u2018smiling coast\u2019 destination that has attracted millions of tourists over the years. Bonne said they have been visiting the Gambia for seventeen years now, and have since kept coming to this shiny and \u2018smiling coast\u2019 tourist destination twice every year. The couple told this reporter that they were attracted to the country for the first time because of the beautiful white sandy beaches at the time; that the country\u2019s sandy beaches used to be very shiny because of how clean they were.<\/p>\n

However, the couple cannot hide their disappointment to this reporter, regarding the present condition of the country\u2019s beaches. They indicate how filthy and dirty the country\u2019s beaches are, littered with plastics, empty tin cans, discarded old fishing nets and filth of all sort; that this can be very dangerous for the people of the country and human and marine life that come into contact with this rubbish thrown on the country\u2019s beach; that a lot of fish catches lands on the beach and people come to buy these fish for home consumption.
\n\u2018\u2018We all have a role to play in cleaning the country\u2019s beaches. These are some of the reasons we have to show the local people why there is need to clean the country\u2019s beaches. There is a lot of business activity that goes on the country\u2019s beaches and we the tourist also come here to enjoy the clean sandy beach and sunlight, that we do not have in our country. However, what I have seen these past years has not been encouraging and this can drive us to look for cleaner destinations in the future, if the beach pollution in the Gambia continues,\u2019\u2019 the couple said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Bonne said they do the clean-up exercise for the future of the country\u2019s children; that human beings should preserve nature and the climate; that sea levels are rising and the patterns of rain fall are changing including rising temperatures; that all this is due to pollution and waste emissions created by people.<\/p>\n

The couple said they invited this reporter to witness their beach cleansing exercise because they want to send the message to Gambians through this medium; that they are also ready to provide the needed support to make sure that the country\u2019s beaches remain clean.
\nThe couple indicated to this reporter that their mission to the country is to enjoy their holidays in a clean atmosphere where they can get adequate sunlight on a clean sandy beach; but that in their recent years of coming for holidays to the country, they have cleaned the beaches on all occasions; that they cannot stop the foul smell that pollutes the beach area because of the pollution that emanates from nearby fishmeal factories.<\/p>\n

The couple said the people in Tanji who depend on fishing, have less catches nowadays because of climate change and over fishing.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018We want people to be aware of their environment,\u2019\u2019 they told this reporter; that they cannot clean the whole world but they want people to hear what they are doing which is important for both marine and human lives that depend on each other for survival.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dutch couple Bonne Bergsma and Wieker De Jong, said they are now engaged in cleaning Gambia\u2019s beautiful beaches every year, when they come to the country for holidays. The couple urged Gambians to do the same in order to restore the fading glory of the country\u2019s beautiful sandy beaches as a shiny and \u2018smiling coast\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":3893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[2163,2162,2164],"class_list":["post-3892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-de-jong","tag-dutch-couple-bonne-bergsma-and-wieker","tag-dutch-tourist-couple-on-beach-cleans"],"yoast_head":"\nDutch Tourist Couple on Beach Cleansing Exercise Urge Gambians To Reciprocate - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/dutch-tourist-couple-on-beach-cleansing-exercise-urge-gambians-to-reciprocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dutch Tourist Couple on Beach Cleansing Exercise Urge Gambians To Reciprocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dutch couple Bonne Bergsma and Wieker De Jong, said they are now engaged in cleaning Gambia\u2019s beautiful beaches every year, when they come to the country for holidays. 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