Dubai Municipality is allocating Dh35 million ($9.5 million) for the maintenance of its beaches for the next two years, said a report.

The maintenance project will include preventive and corrective maintenance of marine facilities, coastal structures and pollution protection barriers, swimming barriers and floating anchors, said a report in Gulf News citing Hussain Nasser Lootah, director-general of Dubai Municipality.

The project ensures that the requirements for accreditation of the Blue Flag certification, a prestigious global certification to be awarded to the beaches that are developed based on the concept of sustainability, including compliance to 32 standards – continue to be met.

The Blue Flag Beach criteria are focused on four main topics: environmental education and information, water quality, environmental management, and safety and services.

According to Alya Al Harmoudi, director of the Environment Department, the municipality does a routine check of the quality of marine water in the public beaches. “This is done by sampling the water of the beach and checking it once a month to ensure that it is free from anything that is considered harmful for swimmers.”