SWAT: The national and international snowboarding players launched a campaign to remove litter from the Malam Jabba ski resort here on Saturday.

They are participating in the Pakistan International Snowboarding Championship and Festival in Malam Jabba.

The snowboarders showed concern about littering in different areas, especially plastic bags and bottles dropped by visitors, and decided to clean up the area.

Samar Khan praised fellow snowboarders for taking the initiative and said Pakistani visitors shouldn’t litter the place.

“Scenic spots are our national assets, which should be protected and kept clean,” he said.

French snowboarder Pica Shamoni, who led the cleanliness campaign, said it was his first visit to Malam Jabba, where he was participating in a championship.

“The site is very beautiful offering multiple opportunities to tourists with very humble and hospitable people. It is very nice to see the winter sport gain popularity in Pakistan, where professional ski, snowboarding and other adventure activities are held,” he said.

The snowboarder, however, said visitors should stop dropping litter and try to keep the area clean.

He said it was the responsibility of every person to properly dispose of plastic bags, bottles and other stuff they used.

Mr Shamoni called for a litter disposal and recycling awareness programme for visitors to tourist resorts.

He invited international tourists to visit Pakistan to witness unique and diverse landscapes.

“Though Pakistan has an image crisis internationally, I have found it to be peaceful and its people to be very kind and hospitable,” he said.

Asif Raza, a snowboarder from Chitral, also hailed the cleanliness campaign. He complained that the snowboarding pitch was not tidy as tourists threw litter everywhere.

He said litter strewn everywhere was a real eyesore, so visitors shouldn’t throw garbage.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2021