Police officers care for the environment

THE 11 finalists in this year's LASCO/JCF Police Officer of the year competition on Monday cleared garbage from sections of the Lighthouse Beach, Palisadoes, Kingston, as part of their social projects in community integration.

Sergeant Natalie Palmer Mair of the community safety and security branch said the environmental campaign is designed for the nominees to assist in making Jamaica garbage-free.

"We are interested in the environment, we believe that we have to protect it, as this is our home," she said. "We are surprised at some of the things that we actually find here, it is really hard to believe that persons use the beach and leave all these garbage here. So we just want to do our part in keeping the environment clean."

Georgia Lewis Scott, executive director of Youth Opportunities Unlimited, which participated in the project, said the area was in dire need of cleaning, adding that her team saw it as a great opportunity to get the youths involved in voluntary service.

Meanwhile, brand representative of LASCO, Renée Rose, said the environmental project is the beginning of a week of activities leading up to the judging process of the finalists.

The competition, which will take place on March 29, will see the winner receiving $200,000 and a trophy.