THE message to clean up Hong Kong has spread to an outlying island, Tap Mun, where the first major campaign in the region got under way yesterday. 'It came out of a visit we had some months ago with the Regional Commander, who asked if there was anything we could do to clean up the foreshore. This is the first time it has been done here,' said Deputy District Commander of Marine Police Waters District Lawrence Knox. While the Marine Police and the Tap Mun Rural Committee organised the campaign, the actual cleaning up was done by about 100 villagers. The cleanup focused on the Chung Mei harbour, with a total of 10 sampans collecting rubbish from the water, and students concentrating on the shore area. The rubbish will be taken away by the Regional Council to a landfill. The headmaster of King Lam School, Chu Moon-keung, said people who visited the island in northeast Sai Kung on weekends were responsible for a great deal of the rubbish. 'A lot of rubbish is left by visitors who come on the weekend, such as plastic bags and soft drink cans,' he said.