A massive beach clean-up took place on Sunday, January 31st, on the northern beaches of Ambergris Caye. Some nine miles north of San Pedro Town, the area is a nesting area for sea turtles, emphasizing the importance of keeping it free of garbage. Spearheading the activity was well-known islander Elito Arceo, who, along with dozens of volunteers, filled over 500 50-gallon bags of rubbish from the area.
Garbage remains one of the main issues on the island, and although around 100 persons joined the cleaning efforts over the weekend, the job is far from finished. Arceo said that they are planning a second clean-up in the same area on Sunday, February 14th, completing the job.
The area targeted is around the El Norte Bar heading south. According to Arceo, the cleaning began shortly after 8AM stretching until after noon. Volunteers poured in from everywhere, including members of the ex-pat community. Most of the rubbish consisted of plastic bottles considered detrimental to the environment. To everyone’s surprise, the group even found refrigerators and propane tanks dumped on the beach.
Arceo asks everyone visiting the area on weekends to keep it tidy as it is also a fragile turtle nesting area. “Sadly, too many people leave their garbage up there,” said Arceo.
The second clean-up will start from Tranquillity Bay to Robles Point. Everyone is invited to help clean and rid the northern beaches of excess garbage. Arceo thanks everyone who took time from their Sunday and contributed to the success of the event. The San Pedro Town Council is also acknowledged for providing compactor trucks to collect the hundreds of rubbish bags.
