Monday, November 24, 2008

OUT of the 20,000 people who participated in the Clean Up Fiji campaign, two thirds were young people.

Clean Up Fiji chairperson Caz Tebbutt Dennis said more than two thirds were children, with schools and youth groups represented and dominating sites.

People turned up in numbers. She said team sizes varied from a team of eight to one of 120.

Members of the defence forces including the army, navy and police made their presence felt while the National Fire Authority joined for the first time.

More than 80 naval staff and their families enjoyed their two hours of cleaning along Edingburgh Drive.

The most common items collected were bus tickets and snack wrappers.

In residential areas, many family and friends cleaned up their own neighbourhoods.

Among those cleaning the Nasese foreshore were staff of the Chinese Embassy, who also happened to have the largest team.

More than 120 members of the Chinese community including their new ambassador collected driftwood on the waterfront.

Mrs Dennis said they were pleased with the response this year.

"The Clean Up Fiji campaign started at 8am and by 9am people were calling because they had exhausted supplies," she said.

"Team hosts kept ringing and saying there were people everywhere and they needed more supplies.

"Many improvised with other collection methods while some emptied sacks into trucks then filled the sacks again.

There was a stunning turn out of 150 volunteers Colo-i-suva Village and neighbourhood; 50 plus from Goodman Fielder; and about 30 from the Forestry Department, Police and friends of Tahila.

The biggest rubbish collected in that area were large piles of industrial-type material of which one pile was made up of an entire car.

She said they looked forward to same support next year.

Article reproduced courtesy of Fiji Times Online - http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=107026