THE Society for Community Outreach & Training (SCOT) launched the Green Xchange H2O project (GX H2O) at the Serasa Water Sports Complex yesterday.
GX H20 is an underwater clean-up coral restoration programme along the dive sites of Brunei. The project’s objective is to expose and deliver awareness about the beauty of the ocean and corals in the Sultanate, which is home to unique species of corals that include the endangered Blue Coral found in the Pelong Rocks area.
Twenty participants compromising committee members of SCOT, representatives from HSBC Brunei and the general public have been selected to participate in this first-of-its-kind project. Successful applicants have to undergo the PADI Open Water Certification course and the Ocean Quest Coral Propagation course. Upon completion, they will take part in a series of ocean dives for a duration of seven months to clean up and restore coral.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Hazair bin Hj Abdullah was the guest of honour at the launch yesterday.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Hazair bin Hj Abdullah in a group photo at the launch yesterday. – ABDUL RAHIM ISMAIL
Also present was Daniel Shields, the Ambassador of the United States, along with Todd Wilcox, the CEO of HSBC Brunei, senior officials from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and other invited guests.
The project was launched with the handover of a mock cheque for $40,400 by the HSBC Brunei CEO to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, who then handed it over to Anwar Mohammad, the Chairman of SCOT.
Tokens of appreciation were then presented to HSBC Brunei as the exclusive sponsor, Poni Divers as the partner of GX H2O as well as the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports as the supporters of the events.
“In 2012, HSBC launched its water programme, a five year US$100 million commitment which provides, protects, delivers information and education across the world on the growing global challenge, which is water scarcity,” said Todd Wilcox.
“Water is essential to all human activity and is a fundamental driver for socio-economic growth,” he continued. “It is under immense strain from population growth, development and climate change.
“While we in Brunei are blessed with constant access to fresh water, HSBC Brunei has turned its sights on conserving water cleanliness as well as its inhabitants in local waters. And by supporting this worthwhile project with SCOT and Poni Divers, we have done just that – and is very much in line with our values. I applaud SCOT for undertaking this project, and express my appreciation to Poni Divers for its support.”
Mohamad Nur Isman bin Abu Bakar, the Project Manager of GX H20, in his welcoming remarks explained the three phases of the project.
“In the first phase, the participants are divided into small groups to ensure the safety and quality of the training of the participants. Upon completing the diving course the participants will enter the next stage.”
In the Ocean Quest Coral Propagation Diver course, which is the second and current phase, participants are to attend a short briefing and receive hands-on practice on coral propagation techniques.
“This will include a dive to collect broken pieces of coral and some rocks from the site, which will later be brought to shore and processed for propagation. After that follows a second dive where the coral brood stock is returned to the site and propagated in protected areas.
“After finishing the second course, each participant is required to perform at least 26 dives that are not included in the phases before. These dives will be conducted in the third phase entitled Ocean Dives. In this phase each participant will perform four dives a month where they would perform two dives per trip.”
The Chairman of SCOT, Anwar Mohammad, is quoted in a statement as saying, “SCOT has been running its flagship project ‘Green-Xchange’ since 2011, which focuses on land that aims to help the underprivileged communities on proper waste management of which, when discarded in a proper manner, could actually add value and earn an extra source of sustenance.”
“Hence, through GX we have adopted the concept of ‘trash for cash’,” he added. “With GX H20, we are now expanding the concept to the ocean, whereby selected participants will take part in a series of ocean dives to clean up and restore the coral of Brunei.”
The GX H20 project will be running until the final week of November.
Source: Borneo Bulletin
Author: Danial Norjidi
Published Date: Monday, May 12, 2014