BRUNEI-MUARA

SOME 69 volunteers were up early to clean up Tungku Beach yesterday in conjunction with the World Forestry Day and the upcoming Earth Hour, led by the Beach Bunch (BB), a non-government organisation (NGO) dedicated to cleaning up beaches in Brunei.

A total of 343kg of waste were collected from the three-hour campaign with another 44kg of plastic bottles that were sent to the recycling plant in Serasa. “This is not the biggest yet,” said Priscilla Boyd, the group’s public relations and marketing officer, as the group had managed to collect more trash in a previous campaign conducted last year.

When it comes to collecting trash, members from BB make it a point to be systematic and also put emphasis on safety. On top of providing tips on their Facebook (FB) group page, prior to every cleaning campaign, the BB members will brief volunteers on the proper ways of separating the trash such as putting the recyclable materials into specific bags.

“(Awareness on recycling) is what we are hoping for and for the future ones, the volunteers who come for most of our campaigns to inform and educate others,” said Priscilla Boyd.

Safety-wise, the group usually sets a perimeter and yesterday the group decided to cover a part of the beach measuring about 500m by 500m.

“It is easier to make sure that everyone is okay. Everyone just sticks to the parameters and so we can do a headcount. We’re always on the lookout before they go out (to clean the beach), we tell them where they can go and where not to go so we can keep them within the line,” said Priscilla.

The volunteers comprised personnel from HSBC, Baiduri Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and BAG Network together with students from Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College, along with members of the Brunei Adventure Recreation Association (Bara).

The number of volunteers turning up to join the campaign vary, but the group remain positive that they will create more awareness on the importance of keeping the beaches clean.

“I think slowly, progressively as we hold more and more campaigns, we will be able to get more volunteers once people (hear) about it,” she said, adding that “we are really thankful to all the volunteers who are out here helping out on a Sunday morning”.

According to their FB group page, BB will be joining the Earth Hour Brunei event by cleaning the areas surrounding Kampong Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery, the historical landmark selected for the country’s official participation in the international event.

“This is in line with our mission of keeping the sea and waterways clean. This would be exciting as it will be our first night clean-up,” said Rizan Latif, BB secretariat and co-founder, on the FB post.

The Brunei Times

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