KOTA KINABALU: Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort (STAR) has picked up 1,918 kilogrammes of rubbish along its coastline during the eight beach clean-ups. 

The Resort’s staff picked up styrofoam debris, plastic bottles, bags and wrappers, tin cans and other rubbish wedged between rocks and washed up on its beach.

“Every resort employee dedicates at least two hours a year to take part in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes organised especially for them.

“CSR activities take into consideration the strict standard operating procedures outlined by the state government during the Movement Control Order.

“Prior to the pandemic, the resort staff visited old folks’ homes, orphanages, local primary school and other organisations as part of their CSR,”according to a statement by STAR.

Apart from beach cleaning, STAR had also donated more than 30 kilogrammes of vegetables harvested from their herb and vegetable garden to the Good Shepherd Services over three months from November last year until January 2021.

The garden harvest is usually used for dishes served at the Resort’s restaurants under its “Rooted In Nature” programme which is one of the Shangri-La Group projects that encourages its over 100 resorts and hotels to use organically- and locally-produced foods where possible. 

“As the restaurants in the resorts have been closed to public for dine-in most of last year, the Resort decided to donate the excess produce to charity organisations. 

“Good Shepherd Services then distributed these to underprivileged local communities and undergraduate students who were stranded in Kota Kinabalu at that time.

Shangri-La Group is committed to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner while balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders.”

The Group strives to be a leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development. Its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability initiatives focus on five key areas, namely community engagement, environment and biodiversity, employee development, sustainable supply chain, and health and safety.

The two flagship CSR programmes – Embrace and Sanctuary – are aimed at promoting education and the environment. Embrace is Shangri-La’s Care for People project and looks at ways of providing the highest level of education and health support needed in under-privileged communities.

Sanctuary is Shangri-La’s Care for Nature project and promotes the conservation and restoration of biodiversity in destinations where the group maintains operations.