KUANTAN: Keeping the beach clean through clean-up activities should not be the sole responsibility of the local authority.

With that in mind, Wasco Energy’s Pipe Coating Division took the effort to organise a cleaning campaign in Pantai Balok recently and over 300 Wasco’s employees and local villagers turned up on that day to support this initiative.

The clean-up was supported by the Kuantan Municipal Council which provided the equipment and other resources.

Chevron site manager Mark O’Sullivan and Wasco Energy’s Pipe Coating Division vice-president Goh Eng Hooi led the three-hour clean up of the 3km long stretch of the Balok Recreational beach to rid it of rubbish.

Goh said that ensuring the environment was clean was not the responsibility of the local council alone as the public should learn the importance of keeping the beaches clean.

“The Pantai Balok Recreational centre is a popular spot for picnics, family gatherings and sightseeing and it has been attracting tourists. “It turns into an eyesore when there is rubbish left by people along the beach,” he said.

He said that unfortunately there were people who did not care about preserving the environment and keeping the beach pristine.

“Because of that and as concerned members of the public, we have come forward to do a clean-up campaign voluntarily.

“Our company, which is based in Gebeng Industrial area, has been trying our best to do social work such as cleaning up the beach as our contribution and saying thanks to the local council for its continous commitment to see Kuantan town clean,’’ he said.

The council’s public relations officer Hazlinda Hassan, who led a team of council staff in the campaign, said the effort of the three companies to assist the local council to clean up the beach was commendable. “No matter how often we clean up the beach, we cannot stop people from dirtying it again.

“Regardless of this, we still have to carry out clean-up activities,” she said.