Clean-up Day unites communities

Luh De Suriyani, Contributor, The Jakarta Post, Klungkung

Hundreds of elementary school students joined forces with environmental activists and divers last Saturday to clean up the sandy beach and lush coral reefs of Nusa Lembongan island.

The event was part of International Coastal Clean-up Day. Nusa Lembongan was selected as a clean-up site because it is a fast-growing tourist destination with a picturesque coastline and mesmerizing underwater beauty.

Nusa Lembongan is one of three islands in the southeastern waters of Bali. The other two are Nusa Penida and Nusa Ceningan. The islands fall under the jurisdiction of Klungkung regency.

The activity started early in the morning when several divers jumped into the blue water of Buyuk, one of the most popular diving sites in Lembongan. They dived down into Buyuk's majestic landscape of coral reefs and started cleaning. This underwater clean-up was organized by World Diving, one of the island's many dive operators. The participating divers came from several different dive operators.

"We found out some plastic and other trash that could damage the coral reef," World Diving instructor John Chapman said.

Later in the afternoon, hundreds of elementary school students from Jungut Batu and Lembongan villages walked to the beaches of their respective villages. They were accompanied by activists from the Reef Check Foundation and Yayasan Gelombang Udara Segar (GUS Foundation) and also by scores of foreign visitors and local tourism operators.

At Jungut Batu beach, the activists divided the children into five different groups before distributing several tools -- gloves, broom and garbage bags -- which the children received with noisy enthusiasm.

"The groups will compete to gather the most garbage. The one with the most garbage will get a special gift and all the participating students will receive certificates from the organizing committee," an activist from Reef Check, Pariama Hutasoit, said.

When the competition started, the groups moved quickly to their respective garbage-gathering areas.

One hour later, the weight of the garbage inside their bags had begun to take its toll on the children's stamina. Two fifth-graders, Made Suroanto and Nabiana, had to drag their garbage bags when they were unable to lift them. The bags were completely filled with plastic garbage.

"Most of this garbage was buried under the sand. People are getting smart these days; they bury their garbage so nobody will see it," Suroanto said.

The buried garbage does not stay that way for long. One villager, Dakon, disclosed that during certain months the tide is much higher and stronger than usual and sweeps the beach with such force it drags the buried garbage to the surface.

When that happens, the beach along the Jungut Batu coastline becomes a dirty place. Dakon admitted Nusa Lembongan had yet to implement an environmentally sound garbage management system based on recycling principles.

Most of the island's residents throw their garbage into their yards or into empty lots.

"Garbage is a big problem for this island. We haven't found an effective way to reduce the growing heaps of garbage," said Sue Beebe, a British dive operator who has lived in Nusa Lembongan for three years.

Reef Check, GUS Foundation, World Diving and the local communities are now working together to solve the garbage problem. They plan to build a community-based garbage management system, which will involve recycling and composting programs.