الأخبار

By Aisyah Mohd(IIUM Today)

GOMBAK - - Everyday is a cleanup day as everything starts with yourself since you have to take the initiative to do it, said Dr. Norzalifa Zainal Abidin in her speech officiating the World Cleanup Day ’19 at Dewan Besar Orang Asli, Batu 12, near here, on Saturday (19 October).

Aimed at educating the people to work together to clean up the environment, Dr. Norzalifa, who is also the Selangor State leader of SEJAHTERA Malaysia, said, “The whole idea of this programme is about empowerment, educating and creating awareness not only among volunteers, but also the community.”

Dr. Norzalifa advised university students to be more holistic and not just focus on academic, but to pay attention to their surrounding as well.

Meanwhile, programme manager, Nur Hidayah Ahmad Rahim, said that this programme was not just about collecting wastes but also to know that every waste has its own value and the need to segregate the wastes according to the different materials, as attention has not been paid much on this aspect, especially by the youth.

“This programme, therefore, acted as an eye opener to the community on the importance of managing our wastes accordingly,” said Nur Hidayah in response to a question from IIUMToday.

She hoped that the youth will be more sensitive on the issue of the environment since the future of the country depends very much on them.

The event was also intended to create bonding with other companies, such as Maybank, and universities like Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM).

Organised by Jungle School, Gombak and SEJAHTERA Malaysia, in collaboration with Recycle Community Malaysia, Lestari (Sustainable) (RCOMM Lestari), IIUM Eco Club and IIUM Abu Hurairah Club, the total waste collected by participants yesterday was 744.21kg.

World Cleanup Day ’19 was sponsored by Maybank, Central Sugars
Refinery (CSR) and Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA). The event had
drawn a total number of 339 participants from various companies,
universities and organisations.***