Naar aanleiding van mijnduikvakantie schreef ik de Koning van Jordanië deze brief:

 

AlBasrah, September 20, 2010

 

ToHis Royal Highness King Abullah II Ibn Hussein

 

YourHighness,

 

Forgive me for taking the liberty of writing youthis letter. This September I spent my vacation in your beautiful andhospitable country. I enjoyed the weather, the friendly people, the nice hotelsand above all, I enjoyed the diving in Aqaba, Tala Bay. During the 26 dives Imade I had a wonderful time exploring the coral gardens which had a greatdiversity of corals, fish and other kinds of underwater life. Since it was aquiet time due to Ramadan and the hot weather, I had the privilege of doingmost dives with just a dive guide to accompany me. This gave me the opportunityto really have a good look around. I visited the Cedar Pride several times; itwas enchanting every time.

 

Only one thing marred my stay and triggered myconcern: the presence of litter in the water. From tires to fish traps, bottlesand cans, many kinds of underwater apparel, and above all, plastic cups andcontainers. They must be there by the thousands. Not only do they spoil theunderwater landscape with their presence, they will spoil the underwaterenvironment as well, and they will not go away. They will eventually break upand be a part of the ecosystem, threatening the underwater life. In the short-term,if nothing is done about this problem this might mean that fewer divers willvisit the lovely Jordan coast and all it has to offer. For the longer term itmight affect this same coast in its very existence.

 

But I believe in opportunities rather than threats,and I see a huge opportunity for you and your fellow countrymen. Research isbeing done on biodegradable materials replacing plastics. I know such researchis done in my country, the Netherlands, but there will be more going on aroundthe world. Would it not be great if you could push this research forward,together with your neighboring countries around the Red Sea and the Gulf ofAqaba, who are all facing the same problem? We cannot prevent the wind fromblowing cups in the sea. But we can make these cups of a material that will notharm that sea. If we all work together on this, and provide an alternative for plasticmaterials to be used on take-away meals and drinks around the coast and on boats,than we might really achieve something that way, and be an example to the restof the world. Area hotels should also be asked to join in this effort.

 

This way the beautiful coastline and all it has tooffer above and underwater will be there to enjoy for us and all who come afterus. I am convinced that you as a diver love this coast more than anybody. Yourposition gives you the opportunity to make parties work together on this goal.Would it not be wonderful if this could be brought about through yourinitiative?

 

Hopingthis letter will find your appreciated attention and remaining,

 

Yoursmost respectfully,

 

LindaRose Smit

Vogelzand2225

1788GB Den Helder

TheNetherlands

Currentlyremaining in Al Basrah Iraq, for the LGP III program

lrep.smit@wxs.nl

9647901945823

 

CC:The Jordan Times

TheJordan royal Ecological Diving Society

 

Uiteraard via de contactpaginavan zijn website.

Dit was de reactie:

 

Dear Mr. Linda Rose Smit

On behalf of His Majesty King Abdullah II, The Royal HashemiteCourt would like to thank you for visiting the Official Website of His Majestyand for submitting your feedback.
  
Weshall give your query / input our immediate attention and get back to you assoon as possible

 

Nu benieuwd wat hiernavolgt.