Diplomat: Beautiful PNG environment must be kept clean

By JASON GIMA WURI
PAPUA NEW GUINEA is a beautiful country and God lavished it with the beautiful city of Port Moresby as its nation’s capital which is actually a spot of enormous world beauty,
Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy Paul Berg said this during a clean-a-thon at Ela Beach over the weekend.
The exercise, made in collaboration with the National Capital District Commission and PNG Gardener, marked the 2011 Earth Day.
The initiative saw almost 500 people from the various organisations attend and help clean the city’s only beach front that is available to the public for recreation.
“The success of the event goes largely to citizens and residents of Port Moresby who volunteer their time and efforts to support Earth Day,” Berg said.
“The goal of the Earth Day is to raise environmental awareness and promote a sense of responsibility and pride in the beautiful natural environment of PNG.
Ela Beach played an historical role in the city which in colonial times was only open to foreigners.
Today, of course, it is open to everyone but  much rubbish collects on the beach and without efforts such as the clean-a-thon over the weekend, it would be unsightly.
“We have collected broken bottles, plastics, metal pieces and other forms of rubbish which have been left behind by people who do not care for their environment.
“Ela Beach should be a tourist destination and nothing is more important then developing PNG and its cities and taking pride in it.
“As Americans, we have been big supporters of PNG since independence but the people of PNG need to take ownership and be responsible for what they have and do,” Berg said.
He also thanked the other organisations in Bank South Pacific, Datec, Oil Search and St John’s Ambulance that joined the clean-up.