Coastal cleanup. The 9th Regional Military Command Udayana commander, Maj.Gen.Wisnu Bawa Tenaya (left) and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Police chief Brig.Gen.Muhammad Iriawan (right) collect non-organic garbage and put it into plastic bags during the celebration of Coral Triangle Day at Ampenan beach, Mataram, NTB, on Sunday. (JP/Panca Nugraha) 

More than 500 police and military personnel and hundreds of volunteers cleaned up Ampenan beach, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), for Coral Triangle Day, on Sunday.

Together with local people, personnel from the Military Regiment Command (Korem) 162/Wirabhakti and NTB Police officers collected all kinds of garbage from soft drink cans to cigarette butts.

'€œThe Indonesian Military really supports activities that show of the importance of keeping the environment clean. We can start by disciplining ourselves to not dispose of garbage improperly anymore,'€ said the 9th Regional Military Command Udayana commander, Maj.Gen.Wisnu Bawa Tenaya, who helped clean up the beach with NTB Police chief Brig.Gen.Muhammad Iriawan.

Coral Triangle Day was celebrated in six Coral Triangle Initiative member countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, the Philippines, and Timor Leste. June 9 was declared as CT Day during a ministerial meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2012.

As a tourist destination with widely known beautiful coral reefs, Mataram was chosen to host Indonesia's Coral Triangle Day 2013.

'€œMataram has a great integrated waste management initiative, namely Bank Sampah Mataram (BSM), which is very supportive of efforts to preserve the beaches and sea,'€ said Sudirman Saad, of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry. (fan/ebf)

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