A committee member of the Society for Community Outreach and Training (SCOT) briefing volunteers on the Green Xchange promotional event at Kampung Batu Marang. BT/Abdul Azim Kassim
ABDUL AZIM KASSIM
BRUNEI-MUARA
Monday, February 10, 2014
RESIDENTS of Kampung Batu Marang can recycle goods worth $1 and get 1.5kg of Beras Wangi (fragrant rice) in return.
More than 100 volunteers of the Society for Community Outreach and Training (SCOT) thronged the village located in Mukim Mentiri yesterday, as part of its project to help low income families and promote environment conservation.
[Related story: Recycling drive can help tackle littering: villagers]
The volunteers ventured onto the wooden walkways of the water village and gave out leaflets on the non-governmental organisation’s Sixth Green Xchange (GX6) project door-to-door.
Assigned in groups, the volunteers explained with the leaflets that the value of the recycling goods depended on the materials.
For example, one unit of a refrigerator or television can fetch up to $2, equivalent to 3kg of rice.
According to Assistant Project Manager Mohd Fadzil Afifi, the event aimed to promote and inform residents of their project on March 16.
On the said date, village residents can collect goods that they want to recycle and deliver the reuseable goods to the Kampung Batu Marang Mosque from 9am to 3pm.
Asked why the particular village was chosen, SCOT Founder Anuar Mohammad said they wanted to extend their outreach projects to places they have not been to.
Anuar said the selection was part of their plans to further involve villages situated where the sea and land meets.
Kampung Batu Marang will become the second water village involved in the Green Xchange project after Kampung Sungai Kebun.
Strategically, Mohd Fadzil, who was covering for Project Manager Mohd Auji Azizi, said Kampung Batu Marang also had a favourable location.
“The path (from the main road) allows easier access (to the village),” he said.
“Recycling companies or trucks can then transport the recycling goods,” Mohd Fadzil told The Brunei Times.
However, Mohd Fadzil does not limit the recycling efforts solely to the village.
“If nearby villages also want to join, we encourage their participation,” he said.
The upcoming Green Xchange project will mark SCOT’s first project after it was recognised as an official non-governmental organisation with approval from the Registrar of Society Brunei Darussalam.
SCOT started its Green Xchange programme in 2011 at Kampung Bolkiah ‘A’ and ‘B’.
The NGO was founded in 2011 when a group of students from UBD, including SCOT’s founder, conducted a study on poverty in Brunei.
The Brunei Times
Source: The Brunei Times
Author: Abdul Azim Kassim
Published Date: 10 February 2014
