Students lead drive to clean up Pekanbaru

Thousands of junior and senior high school students in Pekanbaru have set a good example in keeping their neighborhoods clean by joining in a massive cleanup campaign on Saturday.

The campaign, organized by Pekanbaru's youth education and sports office, involved some 60,000 to 70,000 students who, with their teachers, cleaned up garbage not only in their school complexes, but also along the roadsides and religious buildings.

"I'm happy to take part in this cleanup program," said David, a student of SLTP 20 junior high school, while cleaning up the front yard of the Al Ikhlas Mosque (see photo).

"Through this program we want to make them feel responsible for the city's cleanliness. We also want to encourage the community generally to help maintain the city's cleanliness without having to rely only on the administration," said head of youth education and sports office, Darius. (JP/Puji Santoso)