By Nangamso Mabindla
20 May 2005

DIRTY beaches are soon to be a thing of the past in East London: the City has bought a new beach-cleaning machine worth nearly half-a-million rand.

The state of the city's beaches prompted the municipality to buy the machine, which cost R400 000, to make them safer for users.

Speaking at the official launch of the machine, Willie Maritz, the City's manager for amenities, said it was important to have cleaner beaches for the benefit of the public.

"Our beaches are dirty and that can be dangerous to users. It is our responsibility as a City to ensure that our beaches are safe. This machine will ensure that we keep our beaches clean."

He said the machine would be used at least six or seven times a year, covering all the beaches. "This machine basically will work everyday. One day we will be in Gonubie, then we will move to Eastern Beach, Nahoon and the others. We are going to ensure that all our beaches are clean for citizens and tourists."

There was the small matter of Blue Flag status as well. "For that we are using Gonubie as a pilot project. With our machine that beach will be in line to maintain its Blue Flag status," Maritz said.

However, the City's main aim was for all its beaches to have Blue Flag status.