Sarawak municipal authorities to observe Earth Hour, with Sibu to host

SIBU: A total of five Sarawak local authorities will be observing Earth Hour this year, with the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) playing host as the first to begin the practice in 2008.

The other four are the Kuching South City Council (MBKS), the Padawan Municipal Council, the Sibu Rural District Council and the Miri City Council (MCC).

The five councils will observe the event simultaneously on March 26 for one hour from 8.30pm.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday (March 24), SMC chairman Clarence Ting said the idea of getting the other councils to participate in the event was mooted last year.

"Last year we invited our Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian to join in our Facebook Live event. Then I suggested to him that all the councils join. We only started with MBKS and MCC but this year to my surprise others are joining in," he said.

Ting said this year's Earth Hour is very special as it will be done from Miri to Kuching, and he added that SMC is happy to be the host for this inaugural state-wide event.

"We are so happy as other councils are joining us. This year, SMC is the organiser. We hope next year, Kuching will take over to be followed by Miri,"he said.

He hoped parents would tell their children to switch off their house lights for one hour on that day.

Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 which encourages individuals, communities and businesses to switch off their non-essential lights for one hour on a specific day towards the end of March as a symbol of commitment to the planet.