Azlan Othman
The Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT), through the Forestry Department, yesterday held a tree-planting event at Recreational Park Jalan Pusat Persidangan, as one of the efforts towards achieving the target of planting 500,000 new trees by 2035; and as a main strategy of the Brunei Darussalam National Climate Change Policy (BNCCP), launched on July 25, 2020.
Present at the event was Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Apong, as a National Council Member on Climate Change, BNCCC (Brunei Darussalam National Council on Climate Change); Minister of Development Dato Seri Setia Ir Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Haji Gafar; Minister of Energy Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Mohd Hussein, as Co-Chairman of the BNCCC; Minister of Transport and Infocommunications Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohammad Yusof; and Deputy Minister of Energy Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Matsatejo bin Sokiaw as a National Council Member on Climate Change, BNCCC.
The ceremony was also attended by Legislative Council (LegCo) member and founder of Green Brunei Yang Berhormat Khairunnisa binti Haji Ash’ari; Deputy Minister of Development Dato Seri Paduka Ar Haji Marzuke bin Haji Mohsin; and Chairperson of the Climate Change Executive Committee and Permanent Secretary (Energy) at the Ministry of Energy Haji Azhar bin Haji Yahya.
The event began with a speech by Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali, emphasising the importance of forests and trees to human life, as well as the nation’s commitment in tree planting to support the BNCCP, particularly Strategy 2 on Forest Coverage.
The minister also stated the need for the Forestry Department to monitor all development projects involving tree-cutting, in support of the Green Protocol to be launched by the Ministry of Development (MoD), as a guideline for reducing greenhouse gas emissions within the government sector.
The event continued with a warm-up session and subsequent planting activities by Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali, Dato Seri Setia Ir Awang Haji Suhaimi, and Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib in a reserved area, followed by a mass planting of trees by other guests.
A total of 200 tree saplings were planted, consisting of tabebuia kuning (tabebuia aurea), ubah (syzgium myrtifolium) and ru runang (gymnostoma nobile).
The event continued with a ‘brisk-walk’ and an exploration of previous tree planting location around the park area.
This was the MPRT’s last tree planting event conducted for 2020.
Also present was Permanent Secretary at the MPRT Hajah Tutiaty binti Haji Abdul Wahab;
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Pengiran Datin Shazainah binti Pengiran Dato Paduka Shariffuddin; ambassadors and high commissioners to Brunei Darussalam; heads of departments; and senior officers and staff from the MPRT, the MoD, banks, and sawmill companies.