| James Kon |
THREE cabinet ministers led a clean-up of the Brunei River and Kampong Ayer yesterday morning, in celebration of Earth Day 2018.
The campaign was officially launched at the Taman Mahkota Jubli Emas by Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong; Minister of Health Dato Paduka Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Jaafar; and Minister of Development Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Haji Gafar, who also boarded a boat to take part in the clean-up efforts along the Brunei River.
Also contributing to the campaign was YB Khairunnisa binti Haji Ash’ari, a Legislative Council (LegCo) member, together with several foreign diplomats and personnel from various ministries.
Later, in an interview with the media, Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Suhaimi highlighted the importance of education and awareness in maintaining public health standards.
He said, “We will keep on raising public awareness, through the media. Today, we collected around 600 bags of plastic items, which is a cause for concern.
“We will continue to work on this project and educate the pub-lic that this problem is not only the responsibility of the agencies involved. Everyone needs to come together, in ensuring that the Brunei River and Kampong Ayer stay clean and free of pollution.”
Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar said, “We were able to visit Kampong Ayer to look at the progress of the sanitation project, which began on April 8. Once the project is completed, we hope that the identified areas in Kampong Ayer will be completely cleared of rubbish.”
He also pointed out, “We must be able to maintain the state of cleanliness. Accordingly, the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRe) introduced the ‘No Plastic Day’ campaign at commercial premises, which we hope will be well received by the public.”
The minister also disclosed that the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Municipal Board would provide public recycling bins for plastic and metal items, in addition to ordinary litter.
“In Brunei, there are many companies involved in recycling,” he said. “This morning, we saw plastic bottles being recycled and used for vertical agriculture. This is a good example for households to emulate, in reusing plastic bottles for the planting of vegetables.”
Dato Paduka Dr Haji Mohd Isham, meanwhile, advised, “Don’t wait for cleaning camp-aigns to take place. It should be an ingrained habit to maintain cleanliness.”
Acting Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance) at the Ministry of Development Dr Norimtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak, earlier delivered a speech, highlighting the current clean-up efforts being organised around the capital by JASTRe.
“One of the proactive ventures carried out by JASTRe is providing domestic waste collection free, to the whole of Kampong Ayer,” she said.
Dr Norimtihan also called on everyone, including private organisations, villagers and local communities, to combine efforts in tackling pollution, “so that our beloved Brunei Darussalam and the Brunei River would be kept clean and well-maintained for always”.
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