MIRI: A gotong-royong (communal work) activity to clean up Brighton Cove, the stretch of beach located between ParkCity Everly Hotel and Marriott Resort and Spa here, was carried out yesterday.
About 80 people, consisting of councillors and council members of Miri City Council (MCC) as well as staff members of other government agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and family members took part in the activity, which commenced at 7.30am.
Also present was Miri mayor Adam Yii.
The clean-up party managed to collect a total of about 245 bags of plastic waste within an hour.
According to Yii, MCC will continue to develop Brighton Cove for the benefits of the public and tourists.
Meanwhile, MCC councillor Karambir Singh, who is the chairman of the Green Community and Environment Development Standing Committee, said that the council has been working to organise campaigns at village areas bordering the rivers to raise awareness among its villagers on the importance of cleanliness.
“Kampungs such as Kampung Wireless, Lutong and Pujut Adong…they need to gravitate towards such awareness campaigns.
“We have also built rubbish traps in some drains to capture the rubbish before it flows into the river,” he said.
On November last year, Sarawak Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin said that one of the locations for the installation of rubbish trap would be near Piasau bridge, which will be carried out this year.
The purpose of putting up rubbish traps along the rivers is to help reduce the amount of garbage dumped by those living along the riverbanks.
Iqbal Abdollah, one of volunteers at the clean-up activity, said that a full force of law by relevant authorities should be used to tackle waste dumping into rivers or beaches.
“Enforce stricter policies,” he said.
