The exclusive Jumeirah Beach, which is a playground for millionaires, has turned into a cesspool of toilet paper, human and industrial waste
The exclusive Jumeirah Beach, which is a playground for millionaires, has turned into a cesspool of toilet paper, human and industrial waste
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Health hazard: The pollution is a blow to Dubai's reputation as an international holiday destination |
A noxious tide of toilet paper, human and chemical waste has transformed Dubai's most prestigious shoreline into a health hazard. A stretch of the exclusive Jumeirah Beach a magnet for tourists has been closed.
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"Our tests show too many E coli to count. It's like swimming in a toilet," said Keith Mutch, manager, Offshore Sailing Club, which has posted warnings and cancelled regattas. The pollution is a blow to Dubai's reputation as an international holiday destination.
Mutch first detected trouble last summer. "The stench was unbearable and the water was a muddy brown. There was toilet paper in the sand," he recalled.
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He traced the sludge to a storm drain that was spewing effluent into the sea. He followed the drain to the Al Quoz industrial area, which houses the factories that have helped to fuel the city's rapid growth.
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He also discovered and documented how lorries were emptying human waste from Dubai's 1.3 million inhabitants into storm drains such as the one leading to the sailing club.
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City authorities have since promised to build another sewage pit as a "medium-term solution", while insisting
that the latest tests show water samples to be within safe standards.
Mutch, however, insists it is still contaminated with human faeces and chemicals.
