TNI Sailors Partake in Kuta Beach's Coastal Clean-up Drive

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sailors from the Denpasar Naval Base on Friday partook in the efforts to conduct a coastal clean-up drive on the Indonesian island of Bali's Kuta Beach strewn with marine debris since December 30, 2020.

"We all must start this clean-up effort," Denpasar Naval Base Commander, Colonel Ketut Budiantara, informed journalists on the sidelines of the clean-up mission.

The marine litter washing ashore this popular beach was a matter of serious concern since it not only made it appear unsightly but it could also harm coastal wildlife, he remarked.

Budiantara cautioned that if the marine debris had drifted until a dock's area, it could also disrupt vessel traffic. He then appealed to local residents and tourists to keep the Kuta Beach clean.

The clean-up effort was supported by a coastguard of Kuta Beach named Wayan Suadi, who stated that driftwood was harmful to those surfing at sea.

With the support of local government officials, boy scouts, police officers, and soldiers, the beach was cleared of some 30 tons of marine debris. Most of the trash was plastic waste.

Head of the Environment Office at the Badung District Government I Wayan Puja drew attention to the annual problem of a mountain of trash drifting from the sea before washing ashore Kuta Beach.

ANTARA noted that the marine litter, dominated by plastic waste, had turned out to be a major problem for the resort island of Bali's beaches and sea.

In February 2016, Kuta Beach had come under the glare of the local and global media for the varied trash washed up ashore this popular beach.

The image of unclean Kuta Beach was published by several print and electronic media, including "theconversation.com," which used the photo for an article written by Thomas Wright, a PhD student of Australia's University of Queensland, dated 5/9/2017.

According to Wright, Indonesia was recorded as one of the world's main contributors to marine plastic pollution due to its polluted rivers and streams that discarded some 200 thousand tons of plastic into the ocean annually.

Two years after vast quantities of plastic waste washed up ashore Kuta Beach, the same issue again caught the global media's attention. In March 2018, The Guardian's news portal published a story on the diving experience of Rich Horner in Bali Island.

The British diver spotted vast quantities of trash floating in the sea of Bali and then filmed it. His video was then broadcast on his social media account and YouTube.

Also Read: Tons of Trash Litter Kuta Beach

ANTARA