THE "FLAG" OF ABSERON BEACHES

Paradox. The level of contamination on most of the public beaches in Abseron still leaves much to be desired, while relevant government agencies themselves are sounding the alarm. The country is focused on the rapid development of the tourism industry, and the beaches should be landscaped in the same way as objects of the museum sector, roads and other tourist infrastructure. Take, for example, the open-air museum in the Qobustan National Historical-Artistic Reserve, which became the winner of the Museum of the Year in Europe contest in 2013. It was refurbished by order of President Ilham Aliyev like the Atasgah museum in Baku - a unique temple of fire worshippers. And against the background of such an approach by the president to the tourism sector, the superficial attitude of some bodies to the "beach issue" causes at least a disappointment and surprise.

Sun, sand and water

Why should we not be proud of the things with which God has blessed Abseron just like we are proud of Qobustan today? After all, not every country can boast the presence of the sea within its state borders, and not every capital city has the opportunity to enjoy a coastal holiday. It seems that the agencies which should put the Abseron beaches in order need to be reminded that these silent witnesses of the disgrace that is taking place on them and the Caspian coast are the same kinds of century-old open-air museums, which are also in need of conservation, caring attitude and landscaping, not to mention the fact that the younger generation today is unlikely to understand the depth of such a thing as a "golden sand beach". If the salt of sea water is still capable of dissolving harmful substances, of course, within reasonable limits, we cannot say the same about the sand, unfortunately. If private beaches are cleansed from litter, the public ones, with unlimited access to them, are left at the mercy of God and the executive authorities. The head of the press service of the Baku executive authorities, Nurana Mardanova, told R+ that there is no single institution and department involved in cleaning the beaches. "This is done by the utilities services of the executive authorities of districts where there are public beaches," she said.

The head of the sanitary-hygienic department of the Republican Centre of Hygiene and Epidemiology at the Ministry of Health, Ziyaddin Kazimov, stated that "the territories of Abseron beaches are entrusted to the local executive authorities by the appropriate order of the Baku executive authorities. According to Decision No 74 of the Cabinet of Ministers, landscaping work is entrusted to local executive authorities. And by the 21 May 2013 order of the Baku executive authorities on the organization of summer recreation on the Baku beaches, the executive authorities of Sabayil, Xazar, Qaradag, Sabuncu and Suraxani districts are authorized to take measures to carry out relevant work. Our job is to monitor the sanitary-technical condition of the coastal strip and carry out laboratory studies of sea water."

According to Kazimov, in May measures were taken to check the sanitary-technical condition of the coastal strip. On some beaches, our source said, no improvement work was carried out - they are insanitary and have no toilets, tables, chairs and normal conditions for people to rest. For example, the coastal strip from the village of Corat to Qaradag District is in an unsanitary condition. "We, of course, informed the district executive authorities about all these facts," Kazimov said. Why are the executive authorities doing nothing? The local government bodies themselves probably know the answer to this question.

On the other hand, one of the major problems lies not only in the work of public services, but also in the level of bathers' education and culture.

Valeria Garber, a volunteer of numerous campaigns to protect and cleanse the environment, complains: "A couple of years ago I organized a volunteer programme to clean up the beaches. We cleared the beach in Hovsan and several other beaches in Abseron. But it was very sad for me and the guys to see that after one week the beaches fell into the same dirty condition as before. You realize that when the results of your work are so short-lived, it is not particularly inspiring for further activity."

It seems that the competent formulation of the question of penalties can assist the public services: they have to be tightened - the amount should be increased and those who pollute the environment should be forced to carry out public work. But do not forget that the culture of bathers is directly proportional to the number of dustbins, which cannot be found on the territory of public beaches, and to the regularity of cleaning work on the beaches. Culture can and should be taught, and well-maintained beaches with dustbins or containers for household waste are the best helpers in this matter.

Access to the sea

Public beaches in Baku and on the entire coastal strip of Azerbaijan (not private ones - editor), which are indicative of the level of the development of seaside holidays, must be in good condition! First, you can increase the flow of tourists. Second, a full and normal holiday by the sea, not in the private sector, could be accessible to all citizens without exception.

Successful international experience is the practice when non-government funds introduce their own ratings and stimulate the improvement of the quality of public beaches. They guide tourists (and thus travel companies) in selecting holiday destinations. "Blue Flags" is a term well known to all tourists holidaying in European resorts.

Blue Flags as a quality certificate have been annually awarded since 1987 by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). The programme involves 63 countries, but the list of recipients includes only 49. The award is given based on the results of tests of the purity of sand and water, taking into account the level of equipment on the beaches, the safety of bathers and visitors, conservation of the coastal zone, and so on. In total, 31 criteria are taken into account. The International Committee awarded Blue Flags to 3,103 beaches and 626 marinas this year. The annual award ceremony takes place on 5 June.

The beaches of Spain, followed by Greece, have won the competition for many years. According to the 2013 inspection, 135 resorts in Italy (248 beaches) received blue flags. The lists of winners and thus of the most prestigious beaches also includes the beaches of Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Turkey. Some of the most beautiful beaches are in the Seychelles and the Bahamas.

What do we have? It is strange but true. Today, holidaymakers cannot enjoy a radiant view of the sea on any of the Abseron beach - almost all of them are closed and blocked for unimpeded access by ordinary citizens. Along the entire coast of Abseron, there are numerous barriers, pipes and tires dug in the sand. Each year, you go to the old places, fearing that you will see a familiar sight - the beach is "seized" by businessmen, while R+ has repeatedly written that according to the world practice, access to the sea, lake, ocean and river should be free. Take, for example, Spain - in Spain a citizen of the country has the legal right to walk along the seaside from one end of the country to the other. It is the same in Australia - there are many beaches, hotels and entertainment establishments there, but all beaches are accessible to people. There are no paid beaches at all.

Even if there is a cafe or a water park near the ocean, entry is free everywhere, and parking is outside the beach. On the beaches of Baku we often encounter gross violations of the law and the rights of tourists. What to do? Such phenomena can and should be combated. Do not pay when you are requested to pay for entry to the beach, because officially Baku beaches are considered free and the metropolitan administration has repeatedly said this. "Entry to all sea beaches operating in Baku is free. Entry into the territory of certain tourist areas and objects of national importance may be banned. But entry to all beaches on the coast is free. A fee may be charged only for some services provided on the beaches - for example, for using beach chairs, umbrellas, changing rooms, showers and other services. But it is illegal to charge a fee for access to the beach, and such cases will be treated as an offence. The Code of Administrative Offences provides for certain penalties for this. In previous years, such cases were identified and administrative penalties were imposed on the culprits." The executive authorities claim that they regularly conduct raids to identify violators who charge for entry to the beaches. However, for reasons unknown to citizens, such businessmen are still operating on the beaches. Yet another paradox.

When can I swim?

The beach season is usually considered open when the executive authorities of Baku issue official permission and information is available on weather conditions and the state of water on the beaches where you can swim. At the moment, we are monitoring the state of water along the entire Abseron coast. If the concentration of harmful substances such as E. coli exceeds the legal norm, swimming at these beaches will be banned. The press service of the Ministry of Environment told R+ that data on the state of sea water will be released soon. More often, a "ban" is imposed on beaches in Sixovo in Sabayil District and in Sahil in Qaradag District, which are located closer to the city.

The main reason for the pollution of sea water with E. coli is waste waters that flow into the sea in immeasurable amounts, according to Ziyaddin Kazimov. The picture is especially depressing on the Novxani beach where unlucky and improvident bathers dive into the water, while the landscape next to them is decorated with a wide pipe, sewage water from which flows into the sea.

The problem of water pollution is one of the biggest in this area. According to Telman Zeynalov, director of the National Centre for Ecological Forecasting, the entire sewerage system of Baku is currently centralized and has 18 communication systems. "Sixteen of them are directed towards Hovsan collectors - purifying stations. The other two are located on private land and flow directly into the sea," says the ecologist. According to him, in contrast to all the other systems, they do not report to the Ministry of Environment and do not even allow representatives of the sanitary-epidemiological station to their territory.

To rectify the situation, LLC Azersu plans to build more mobile treatment plants. The head of the Public Relations Department of Azersu, Anar Cabrayilov, told R+ that in some places on the coast, there is no sewerage network, and all waste water flows into the sea. "But we plan to rectify this situation: to this end, we will build 10 water treatment plants with a capacity of 200,000 cubic metres," he said.

The beach problem of Azerbaijan has a lot of questions, to each of which relevant agencies have their own answer. But at the same time, the situation is not fundamentally changing. But it is time to change it. It is enough to approach this from the point of view that Azerbaijani beaches are unique open-air museums, which are of direct value to the tourist potential of the country and not just related departments, but each of us must treat them with care. In Azerbaijan, it is first of all necessary to remove all fences blocking access to the water and thus improve the panorama of the coast, as well as to review the concept of the work of paid beaches. It is good that there is effective international experience for this. Secondly, it is necessary to clean the coastline beaches and third, to improve the condition of the sea water. We think that to this end, related departments do not need to wait for instructions from above. There are all possibilities for that. Where there's a will, there's a way.