President Wavel Ramkalawan met with a team of Seychellois divers at State House this morning, who are currently leading an ocean clean-up project in Seychelles focused on the “Reduction of ocean pollution through sea floor clean up and raising awareness about the impact of ocean pollution.”

The meeting was an opportunity for the three sea cucumber divers, Marcus Quatre, Dominique Thelermont, and Mervin Cedras to present the Head of State with an the overview of the project, its progress so far and some of challenges being encountered.

President Ramkalawan first and foremost commended the team for the ocean clean-up initiative and through their passion for the ocean are simultaneously now also raising the populations’ awareness to the plight and negative impacts of marine pollution.

“Today on behalf of government and the people of Seychelles I wish to congratulate your team for such an amazing initiative. Through this project you are not only focused on cleaning up parts of our ocean but are also shedding light on vital background information and possibly long-term actions we need to implement as an island nation. Ocean pollution concerns all of us and we are proud to see our younger generation engaged in such noble actions” said President Ramkalawan.

The President further pledged the government’s full support for the project and expressed his willingness to also work with the divers in spearheading a similar initiative for the Indian Ocean region.

The Seychelles Ocean Clean-up project is presently focused on 3 sites around Mahé. Phase 1: East Coast/Providence area: 1,916,608 sqm, Phase 2: North East Coast area: 254,128 sqm and Phase 3: North West Coast area: 571,171 sq.

Through the ocean clean-up project the total area to be cleaned is divided into approximately 27,400 grids of approximately 100 m2 (10m x 10m) and systematically the dives will cover each grid square with the divers taking note of the rubbish collected in each grid square. At the end of the clean-up the collected rubbish will be separated, weighed and recycled as much as possible.