SELAYANG, 30 Jan: The enforcement of the use of environmentally friendly and recyclable materials is being carried out especially during the Thaipusam festival, which will receive visits from many people from across the country.

The Exco for Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs, Elizabeth Wong, said that although the culture of recycling is still being tried to be instilled among the people, the implementation overall should be done in the nearest future.

She said that this is in line with the desire to make Selangor a green state that is environmentally friendly and sensitive to environmental concerns.

“We encourage all associations and participants involved during the celebration to use plats or bowls that are recyclable or organic based materials to line their food.

“Although this year we are still at the promotion stage, soon, I hope, it will become a requirement enforced by local authorities, the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) in particular.

“We will gradually implement it and finally, the major celebration in Batu Caves will no longer have to use plastic based materials,” she said when launching the Clean and Green Campaign.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth said that the state government, through the consumerism affairs standing committee, will participate in the programme to pass out biodegradable plastic to the Sanggam Hindu Association in support of the green and environmentally friendly campaign being carried out.

She said that a total of 50,000 food containers made from organic materials will be used during the celebration for distributing free food to the visitors.

“In addition, we will also hold a recycling programme, especially for bottled water, that will certainly be thrown arbitrarily by visitors.

“We expect hundreds of thousands of water bottles to be collected throughout the celebration to be recycled to save the environment,” she said.

NS