Volunteers clean up Likas Bay Beach
KOTA KINABALU: PETRONAS and Yayasan Hijau Malaysia (YHM) held a Likas Bay Beach Cleaning Programme at the Likas Bay Public Park here Saturday.
This social impact programme, which saw the cooperation between Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and Impactlution Sdn Bhd, was attended by
200 volunteers consisting of PETRONAS employees in the Sabah and Labuan regions, local non-government organisations (NGOs), the Universiti Malaysia Sabah Ecocampus Center and local residents.
The organisation of this beach cleaning programme is part of the activities under PETRONAS' social impact pilot project, ‘Planting Tomorrow', which will be implemented in Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu through the collaboration of PETRONAS and YHM.
A total of 313.44 kilogrammes of garbage was collected by volunteers during the programme and 69.92 kilogrammes of it was recyclable garbage.
State Assistant Finance Minister II Tan Lee Fatt, who is also Likas assemblyman, while inaugurating the soft launching of ‘Planting Tomorrow' and the closing of the
Likas Beach Cleanup Programme, said that the participation of corporate companies is very welcome to continue organising such programmes at beaches all over Sabah, especially in Kota Kinabalu.
“This is because efforts to maintain cleanliness do not rest on the shoulders of the government or local authorities alone, rather it involves all parties,” he said.
He added that all parties also need to change their attitude and give a serious commitment to the care of the environment, especially rivers and beaches, and make it a lifestyle practice in everyday life.
In addition, according to the PETRONAS Sabah and Labuan Regional Office General Manager, Siti Ayu Abdul Wahab, this pilot project implemented by PETRONAS aims to drive changes in community behavior by creating a community that is more aware of the preservation and conservation of the environment, global warming and climate change in addition to improving the skills and knowledge of the local community in the aspects of recycling and systematic solid waste management.
She believes that the implementation of this pilot project can contribute to the generation of income for the local community through the commercial sale of upcycle products that will be produced in the future.
The implementation of this pilot project will include three main components which are public awareness programmes (beach/river cleaning and education programmes in schools), upskilling programmes for the local community and waste collection programmes at recycling centers that focus on the management of selected waste i.e. plastics, used cooking oil and textiles.
In the initial stage, two villages in Kota Kinabalu have been selected for the social impact pilot project which will start implementation from April 2024, namely Kampung Cenderamata II in Likas and Kampung Warisan in Inanam.
Also present at the programme were the Chief Executive Officer of Yayasan Hijau Malaysia, Dr Nurul Muiz Murad, Director of Solid Waste Management Department, Leong Tze
Fui, and Senior Manager of PETRONAS Social Impact Management, Najiha Hambali.