LONGEST UNDERWATER CLEAN-UP

RECORD.....Datuk Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture & Environment of Sabah (second left) together with Tun Zaki Tun Azmi, Chairman of Astro (second right) witnessed the Guinness World Records certification presentation for the Longest underwater clean up by Kirsty Bennett, Guinness World Records Adjudicator (right) to Dato Rohana Rozhan, Chief Executive Officer of Astro (left).

By : FIZAH YUSOF

THE LONGEST under water clean-up organised by ASTRO found its way into the Guinness World Record yesterday when 134 divers taking part in the underwater clean-up completed their 168 hours of continuous clean-up at 224 dive locations surrounding Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, Kota Kinabalu.

Datuk Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture & Environment of Sabah representing Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman, was on hand to witness the Guinness World Records certification presentation by Kirsty Bennett, Guinness World Records Adjudicator to Dato Rohana Rozhan, Chief Executive Officer of Astro at Pacific Sutera Harbour Resort, yesterday.

In his speech delivered by Datuk Masidi Manjun, the Chief Minister congratulated Astro for taking the initiative to organise the record breaking clean-up.

“Astro has taken on an active role in creating a greater awareness in marine conservation for a beautiful Malaysia. I encourage more companies in Malaysia to do likewise by playing a bigger role in conservation, as it is only through our collective efforts, that we will be able to pass on a beautiful country to our future generations.

To take part in the dive, teams of divers took turns to dive. According to the terms of Guinness World Records, at least one diver has to be under the sea at all time and each of them must collect a piece of  man-made rubbish when coming up to the surface.

Dato Rohana Rozhan, Chief Executive Officer of Astro said that the Astro Kasih volunteer divers collected a total of 3,171 kilograms of marine debris including plastic bottles and bags, fishing lines, nets, cans and tires.

Rohana disclosed to reporters that Sabah was chosen as the location for the challenge because of the unique and rich natural resources that it has, as well as   the beautiful beaches, the sea, the Majestic Mountain and other interesting places for which Sabah is well known.

“Sabah has so much to offer and the beautiful dive sites is part of it, so there is so much that we can do here,” she said.

VOLUNTEER......A volunteer diver picking up a tin can during the dive.

One of the volunteer divers, Krystle Stevens said she was proud to be part of the effort in helping to clean the sea.

“It is something that I have never done before. Usually I dive because I want to see and explore the marine life, but collecting rubbish is out of the ordinary,” she said.

Krystle was surprised by the amount of rubbish scattered under the dive sites especially near settlements within the Tunku Abdul Rahman marine park. She felt sad that some people do not see the importance of preserving the marine life.

134 volunteers qualified divers from Malaysia, USA, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, France, Lithuania, Switzerland, Netherlands, Hong Kong and Astro employees took part in this one week corporate social responsibility programme. The divers conducted a total of 1120 dives at 224 dive locations surrounding Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. (Insight Sabah)