Semporna islanders collect over 20,000kg trash in major cleanup effort

KOTA KINABALU: Fed up with their home being constantly labelled a dirty island, villagers at Pulau Mabul put their heads and hands together to carry out a major cleanup in which they collected over 20,000kg of waste.

The effort involved over 1,000 residents on the island, located off Sabah’s east coast Semporna district, who collected the rubbish in three exercises between March and July.

Led by the village chief Yusuf Jalal, the villagers were determined to shave off the unwanted title of Pulau Mabul being renowned for its world-class diving sites but yet having its sea and land soiled with trash.

“This effort is a collective work of everyone in this village who aims to see a better and cleaner Mabul,” said Yusuf, on Sunday (July 7).

“We have been telling our islanders that Mabul has often been labelled a dirty island despite having world-level diving sites.

“Therefore, we want to make sure that our beaches are cleaner than before. We have collected over 20,000kg of waste through this series of efforts,” he added.

Previously, the islanders participated in an island-wide clean-up in March, collecting over 10,000kg of trash.

This was followed by a second clean-up in June, where villagers once again came together to collect over 8,000kg of waste.

On Saturday (July 6), the third series of the clean-up initiative saw the community collect an additional 5,000kg of waste, bringing the total to over 20,000kg.

The efforts by the villagers were also part of the district-level cleanliness campaign launched by the District Officer earlier this year.

Yusuf added that the collaboration with relevant government agencies, such as the District Office and District Council, was vital and also expressed gratitude for the technical support provided by Reef Check Malaysia.

“We hope that the government will consider establishing a waste management system, which will greatly help us prevent more trash from being thrown into the sea and polluting our beaches,” he said.

He further said there was a need to engage more support for resources to conduct regular cleanups as it costs them material and transportation.

Mubin Paraja, a villager and member of the Pulau Mabul Waste Management Committee, said this was the first-ever community-led effort showcasing everyone’s commitment to addressing waste management issues on the island.

“We need more people to help us ensure this effort is sustainable,” he said.