Jakarta, Indonesia, May 15, 2013 -- (ACN Newswire) -- Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia and Quiksilver signed an agreement with PT. Garuda Indonesia (Persero), Tbk today in an effort to help reduce the amount of rubbish in Bali coastal areas, as a means to sustain Indonesia's tourism industry and support economic prosperity for the local communities.
President Director of Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia, Erich Rey, and CEO of Quiksilver South East Asia, Paul Hutson, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CEO of Garuda Indonesia, Emirsyah Satar, officially adding the airline company as the third partner in the Bali Beach Clean Up Program (BBCU), a program that was first established in 2008 by Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia and Quiksilver to help solve one of Bali's alarming issues - too much waste. In 2013 alone, the program has picked up over 1 million kg of waste off the five beaches of Kuta, Jimbaran, Legian, Seminyak, and Kedonganan, adding to the total of over 14 million kg of rubbish collected since the program started five years ago.
Through close partnership with the local leaders of Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Jimbaran, and Kedonganan, Bali's Beach Clean Up program has quickly developed into a daily activity, committed to cleaning 9,7 km of arguably the most visited beaches in Indonesia. Our program now employs 74 local beach clean-up workers, and investment of 4 tractors, 3 trucks, and placed more than 300 waste bins. There's also support given to the lifesavers (Balawista Badung) who keep the beaches safe for residents and tourists every day.
As the beaches have become cleaner there has been a noticeable increase in the number of Sea Turtles returning to these beaches to lay eggs. Our program also supports the Bali Sea Turtle Society who has released over 50,000 baby sea turtles back to the wild from Kuta beach since 2008.
"Through this agreement, we believe we can continue our objective to make significant impacts on the efforts to reduce the amount of waste. Our efforts demonstrate a small amount of the work required to make the significant changes in environmental care across the country, however we hope that the program can inspire other organizations in the environment in which they operate," says Erich Rey.
"By entering into the agreement and signing the MOU of Bali Beach Clean Up, which soon will be followed by eco festival called The Bali Big Eco Weekend on 22nd June with Coca Cola Amatil Indonesia and Garuda Indonesia, we are taking further action to our commitment in demonstrating a sustainable CSR program. By working together hand in hand, we believe our corporate social responsibility work will be impactful to the community, the environment and Indonesia as a whole," says Paul Hutson.
PT. Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk first took part in the program last December 2012, through donation of two (2) Beach Surf Rakes units that let trash to be swept off the sand instantly, including small items like cigarette butts and other miscellaneous bits of plastics. The company then decided to fully join the program this year, as it remains committed to support many initiatives and programs to preserve the environment. Through this partnership, Garuda Indonesia supports USD 80,000 per year for this program.
"As one of our largest hubs serving Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and numbers of other domestic destinations, Bali has always been an important destination for Garuda Indonesia. Garuda Indonesia feels impelled to take part in the improvement and preservation of this island's genuine nature, and for that reason, we have carried out various environmental programs," adds Emirsyah.
FURTHER COMMITMENT TO BALI: BALI'S BIG ECO WEEKEND 2013
The MOU will soon be followed up by an annual eco festival called Bali's Big Eco Weekend, to be held in Kuta Beach this coming June 22, 2013, just in time when the island reaches its peak on both Indonesia and Australia's school holiday. The one-day festival, which will be held for its third time this year, aims to raise further awareness among the locals and tourists on the alarming environmental condition.
Along with the serious messages of preserving Bali's environment through Bali beach clean-up activity, the festival will bring everyone to join a series of eco-fun activities by the beach, such as Lifesavers Race, attractive demonstration from various Bali-based NGOs in "Eco Village", as well as sea turtle release. Last year's Bali's Big Eco Weekend was able to gather local residents and tourists to pick up more than 1,5 tons of trash in one day, and released 1,200 baby sea turtles back to their natural habitat.
According to the Central Statistic Agency (BPS), the number of foreign tourists that visited Bali last year totaled 2,949,332, a rise of 4.3 percent compared to the previous year. The five top countries of origin supplying tourists to Bali in 2012 were Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea, respectively contributing 27.12 percent, 10.75 percent, 6.40 percent, 5.75 percent and 4.18 percent to the total number of tourist arrivals.
Contact:
Putri Silalahi
Media & Communications Manager
COCA-COLA AMATIL INDONESIA
Evanggita.In.Putri@sea.ccamatil.com
Ni Putu Purniati
Marketing Manager
PT. QUIKSILVER INDONESIA
Putu.Purniati@quiksilver.co.id
Pujobroto
VP Corporate Communications
PT. GARUDA INDONESIA (PERSERO), Tbk
pujobroto@garuda-indonesia.com