Cleaning city a continuous battle – Abidin

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From fourth left, Eng, Lui, Abidin, Chu and Joannes with school staff and students promoting reusable bags.

KOTA KINABALU: City Hall is fighting  a continuous battle in creating a litter-free environment as some still have the habit of littering.

Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir said City Hall was campaigning on cleanliness almost everyday in an effort to reach out to the people not to litter.

“We (City Hall) clean in the morning and by evening there will be rubbish again; it is a continuous battle,” Abidin said when officiating at a ceremony to recognize SJK(C) Chung Hwa Kota Kinabalu as a litter-free school here yesterday.

The primary school also joined City Hall’s campaign to reduce the usage of plastic bags.

Abidin said the City Hall needed the assistance from all parties and individuals to change (improve the cleanliness of the city).

“We are starting to see the impacts, our city has changed a lot and the level of cleanliness has improved,” he noted.

On the litter-free recognition given to SJK(C) Chung Hwa Kota Kinabalu, Abidin said the school was deemed qualified for the recognition was based on the talk and examinations conducted at the school on June 17 and September 25 this year.

“The decision by the school to support City Hall’s Anti Litter Bug Campaign and the Reduce Plastic Bag Usage Campaign was in line with the aspiration and continuous effort of the City Hall to make Kota Kinabalu a litter-free city one day.”

He said SJK(C) Chung Hwa Kota Kinabalu, being the only school located at the city centre, was the 34th school that received the litter-free recognition.

Abidin added that the City Hall has recognized 81 litter-free zones, which included schools, offices, tourism centres, villages, construction sites, commercial centres, higher learning institutions, condominiums, towns, banks, clinics and others.

“As a litter-free school, all events organized by the school have to adopt the LiFE concept, meaning Litter Free Event.”

Abidin explained that LiFE was not just limited to a ban on littering during an event, but also meant ‘Litter Free Everywhere, Litter Free Everyday and Litter Free Everyone’.

On the campaign to reduce plastic bag usage, Abidin said City Hall was not imposing a ban on plastic bag usage. Rather, the message is to practise reduce, reuse and recycle of plastic bags and to dispose plastic bags the correct way.

A total of 298 premises, including SJK(C) Chung Hwa Kota Kinabalu, have joined the campaign to reduce plastic bag usage since it was launched on June 7, 2010.

Also present at the ceremony were Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKCCCI) president Datuk Michael Lui, SJK(C) Chung Hwa Kota Kinabalu board of directors chairman Datuk William Chu, SJK(C) Chung Hwa Kota Kinabalu headmaster Datuk Eng Thiam Leong, City Hall deputy director general of operations Joannes Solidau and Cleanliness Health and Urban Services Department director of the City Hall Robert Lipon.