Dubai Customs shared the entire world celebrations of the World Environment Day which takes place on June 5th every year. The Department participated with a number of awareness programs and activities which aim to increase environmental awareness of Customs employees as well as the public and the clients.
Mrs. Feryal Tawakul, Executive Director of Community Affairs and Government Partnership at Dubai Customs said that that taking care of the environment is a strategic objective at the Department as part of its social responsibility on the one hand, and in implementation of the respective international obligations relating to this cause on the other hand.
She said that the different aspects of the environment constitute a springboard for launching social initiatives at Dubai Customs throughout the year besides the health, human and charitable aspects. She pointed out as well that the Department launched last year 96 social initiatives targeted at achieving sustainable development.
She further noted:" Dubai Customs gives much interest to the environment cause throughout the year through different activities and events, World Environment Day constitutes a key channel for increasing environmental awareness on all levels and fields internationally. The burden of preserving the environment is a common responsibility for individuals and organizations, nations and governments. Each one of us can contribute efficiently to it in their surroundings”. She referred to a number of events organized by the Department in 2010 such as participating in the Earth Hour campaign which adopted the UN Environment Program for maintaining the ozone layer through executing training programs for the employees on how to handle the harmful substances to the ozone layer in addition to the cleaning campaigns of beaches in Dubai and the recycling initiatives.
Last December, a group of Customs employees took part in Clean Up the UAE campaign organized by the Emirates Environmental Group. Over 100 employees from the government and private sector in the UAE volunteered in the campaign and were able to gather more than 90 tons of wastes.
Mrs. Tawakul stressed that these activities performed by Dubai Customs aim to anchor the concept of preserving environment in the community and reflects Customs full commitment to the present and future of the next generations.