Every day he undertakes a titanic task in cleaning the beaches in Mazatlan

The most difficult thing is not to clean the kilometers of coastal strip that Mazatlan has, but to raise awareness so that people do not throw more garbage says Wenceslas Narciso

Mazatlan Sinaloa – Wenceslao Narciso Cruz is 55 years old, of which almost 10 years has been dedicated to care and keep clean the beaches of Mazatlan, as an inspector in the Directorate of Ecology and Environment, in early 2019 he retired, but was hired in September of this year by Operadora y Administradora de Playas with one objective: to support as inspector in the cleaning of beaches to extend the certification.

The goal in the 2018-2021 Municipal Development Plan is titanic, but not impossible: to achieve the certification of 1,500 meters of newly certified beaches, in addition to maintaining those that already exist, which are Seagulls with 535 meters and Verde Camacho, 6 040 meters.

Remember that he was one of the workers who were responsible for the cleaning process of the Gaviotas beach, which reached a white flag at level 1 in June 2013, and now he returns to join a similar task to meet the standards of the official standard and to be able to certify more than 508 meters of the Luna Bonita beach.

He says that the most difficult task is not to clean the coastal strip of garbage as you might think, but to raise awareness so that visitors, tourists and bathers do not continue to dirty the beaches, since despite awareness campaigns and cleaning days On weekends, many people continue to leave waste on all the beaches of Mazatlan.

Currently working on the certification process of Luna Bonita beach. Photo: Rolando Salazar I The Sun of Mazatlan

In just one year, 9.7 tons of garbage on the beaches, 173 thousand 519 cigarette butts, 5 thousand 103 bottle caps, and thousand 163 straws were collected through 40 days of cleaning, according to data from the Operator and Administrator of Playas de Mazatlán.

Narciso Cruz, who runs a screening machine that cleanses the sand, says that in 200 meters of beach it is possible to collect an average of 100 to 150 cigarette butts, in addition to a good number of loincloths and straws.

I had the joy of working for the certification of the Gaviotas beach, from the beginning of the process to obtaining it, I know and it was my turn to see all the processes; I have been working on the beach for about 10 years, I was a municipal worker in the Directorate of Ecology, that is where I started in the maintenance of beaches, and I had many courses on beach maintenance and waste

Wenceslas

Wenceslao comments that he also had courses in the implementation of the Mexican Standard NMX-AA-120-SCFI-2016, which establishes the requirements and specifications for the sustainability of beach quality.

With this knowledge, he points out that the most difficult job is not to keep clean the 38.9 kilometers of Mazatlan beach or to clean 200 kilometers of a stretch of beach, as was done with the 40 days of cleaning in the last year, but to raise awareness people so they don’t litter anymore.

I especially dedicate myself to the topic of awareness, I see families with their beach umbrellas, and with the experience I have, I see those who intend to pick up their garbage and those who do not, those that I see do not intend, I approach and explain to them what type of beach they are in and the importance of picking up the trash, sometimes I give them the bag or the trash can, and I tell them that I am a beach inspector.

Wenceslas

He said that more and more people collect their waste, but there are still many people who do not, both tourists and bathers, walkers and visitors.

However, he says that with those who battle the most with the destitute, who proliferate especially on certified beaches such as Gaviotas, these are followed by local residents.

Right now, the main problem we face is the awareness of the tourist, the visitor, bathers, walkers and especially the homeless, they hit us hard because they are people who are not conscious and arrive and leave you with glass bottles, bags, plastics …

Wenceslas

Hence, camping is prohibited on this type of beach, because in general, garbage and waste are left.

He considered that Luna Bonita beach is very likely to be certified and reach level 3 of excellence, but it takes a lot of effort to maintain the standards required by the official standard.

In the cleaning process, he added, he was on the point of not achieving it, since 3 or 4 days after the auditors of the Mexican Institute for Standardization and Certification came to do the review, the beach suffered severe damage with the last storm, She had to undertake an emergency plan in which all those involved participated, from hotel personnel such as Operadora de Playa y Municipio, to leaving the beach clean again.

Now it is awaiting the opinion that will be issued in the first days of next January.

Right now we are working to achieve level 1, with that we start and we can keep up to 2 and thus pass to 3, but the more we go up, the more demanding is the cleanliness, level 3 is the excellence of the sand, the water , informative panels and includes many more things.

Wenceslas

Narciso Cruz’s work extends throughout the coastal area, one day he is in Gaviotas, another day in Pinitos, Cerritos or Luna Bonita, he and another partner operate the machines consisting of a sweeper and a sand tractor.

Wenceslao insists that you can have the most modern equipment for beach cleaning and an army of people who collect all the garbage that accumulates on the sand, but if people do not assume their responsibility to take their waste, there will be no way to comply with the standards and certification processes of more beaches.

It sees an advance in the collection of PET, but there is a lack of awareness in the case of cigarette butts, bottle caps, and straws, as well as in styrofoam and plastic products.

“Mazatlan has large stretches of beach and all can be certified wanting and with the support of all, of the 3 levels of government and society, because if a beach is a very tremendous effort, large extensions will increase the work more.”

Like many, he agrees that a clean city is not the one that is most swept away, but the one that gets dirtiest, so it is with the beaches.

FACTS

9.7 tons of garbage were collected in 40 days of beach cleaning in Mazatlan, in one year.

342 kilograms of garbage collected in a year on the beaches were recyclable waste.

200 kilometers of beach covered the 40 days of cleaning that took place in Mazatlan.

CERTIFIED BEACHES

Gaviotas: 535 meters, recreational use.

Verde Camacho: 6,040 meters, priority for conservation.

IN PROCESS

Luna Bonita, 508 meters, recreational use.

Estrella del Mar, 2,000 meters, recreational use

Source: el sol de mazatlan

The Mazatlan Post