Thursday, 23 September 2010

Beach to be swept clean

Raring to go: Koay (fourth left) and committee members showing a banner during a press conference at Taman Robina in Butterworth, Penang, yesterday.

ABOUT 2,000 people are expected to take part in the International Coastal Cleanup programme at Taman Robina and Pantai Bersih in Butterworth, Penang, on Saturday.

The campaign is part of the ‘Cleaner, Greener Penang’ initiative co-organised by The Star and the Penang and Seberang Prai municipal councils with support from the state government.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng will launch the event at Pantai Robina, Bagan Ajam, at 6.30am. It involves cleaning up a 3km stretch of the beach between Taman Robina and Pantai Bersih.

Event organising chairman Koay Teng Hai said the rubbish found in the sea was mainly discarded into it directly or thrown into rivers and carried there.

He also said some of the garbage had entered Malaysian waters from neighbouring nations.

“Based on my observation, about 130 bags of rubbish from neighbouring countries can be collected in seven days,” Koay, who is also Pulau Tikus assemblyman, told a press conference yesterday.

He said apart from the programme, other government agencies would also take part in the programme, including the Election Commission (to register new voters), National Association for Drug Prevention Malaysia (Pemadam) as well as the state health and welfare departments.

Nokia’s South-East Asia and Pacific sustainability manager Tan Mei Ling, whose company is also taking part in the campaign, said they would continue their role to help create public awareness and encourage the people to embrace a greener lifestyle.

She said they would conduct a roadshow during the event to educate the public on the benefits of e-waste recycling, including recycling of old mobile phones and accessories.

Tan said a mobile recycling truck would be at the site for the public to bring along their unwanted cellular phones of any brand to be recycled.

“They will then get a chance to take part in a contest to guess the nearest all-correct number of old handphones in a box and stand to win a brand new Nokia mobile phone,” she said.

The public can also try their luck at a ‘Spin the Wheel’ where they stand to win Eco premiums from Nokia for every old phone recycled.

Such gifts include T-shirts, pen drives made from bamboo, pencils made from old newspapers, recycled notebooks and recycling bags and caps made from recycled bottles and packaging materials.

The Star

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/9/21/north/7070626&sec=north

No comments: