The Manjung Community in Perak and employees of Vale Malaysia received a timely reminder about staying healthy and safe at all times during the company’s recent Health, Safety & Environment Carnival.
Open to the public, this was the fifth time the annual carnival has been held with the purpose of inculcating awareness of the importance of health, safety and the environment especially among the youth.
“It is like an annual check-up for the local community and as one of the main industrial players in the district, we want to be part of the cause in advocating the importance of health, safety and the environment,” said Executive Manager of Vale in Malaysia, Luiz Fernando Landeiro.
“It is very important that we constantly take steps to enhance the health, safety and the environment in every aspect of how the company operates and that is something that we want to impart on the local community of which we are a part,” said Landeiro, adding that the carnival also serves as a hub where all the related Government agencies and NGOs can also reach out to the people.
Officially launched by the Orang Besar Jajahan Manjung, Y.D.H. Toh Seri Bijaya, Lt. Kol. (B) Dato’ Shaharudin bin Haji Nazari, the carnival also promoted awareness of the Vale Eco Centre that is part of the company’s commitment to the environment, which serves as an educational platform for the local community members and the public to discover and appreciate biodiversity of the Teluk Rubiah forest.
Managed by Vale, the Eco Centre provides the gateway to the 715-acre Teluk Rubiah forest preserved by Vale out of its 1196-acre property.
“The Teluk Rubiah forest is an environmental heritage that needs to be preserved as a thriving example of how proper care of the environment is essential to the quality of life for present and future generations, apart from imparting the importance of keeping the environment clean and healthy as part of our value, Prize Our Planet,” said Landeiro.
Visitors to the carnival were also treated to performances by local artistes from Manjung and were able to get the services and useful information from the presence of government agencies, organisations and NGOs that are related to health, safety and environment.
Well-known local crime analyst Kamal Affandi Hashim, who was also there to give a talk on safety, said, “awareness of the environment, is very important as the preservation of human life is as precious as saving the forest”.
The participants were able to learn about dental health, road and home safety, the communications and multimedia industry, which includes cyber safety, and a few others from the exhibitions and games, apart from adrenaline-filled treasure hunt, Enviro-Hunt that was held at the Vale Eco Centre trails.
