Doing their part: Divers collecting trash during the underwater clean-up.
KOTA KINABALU: Non-governmental organisations and volunteer divers have gathered more than 300kg of trash in a series of underwater clean-ups in various islands off Semporna over the past few days to show their love for the nation and environment.
Reef Check Malaysia (Sabah) programme manager Adzmin Fatta said the event saw participants putting on their diving gear just to collect rubbish from the seabed.
On Sept 14 and 15, they cleaned up trash from four islands, namely Larapan, Mabul, Sibuan and Kulapuan.
Adzmin said the annual event has been held every September since 2022.
“Every year in September, we coordinate an International Coastal Clean-up Day in Malaysia.
“In Semporna, we have been organising beach and underwater clean-ups with several partners since 2022,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Adzmin said though they have regular clean-up activities of their own, this programme also saw participants and partners collecting data that could be used for advocacy efforts.
He said for Larapan Island, the clean-up was conducted with mainly youth from the Larapan Marine Conservation Group, where some 57kg of trash, mostly plastics, was collected.
“In Mabul Island, we teamed up with Pemimpin Belia Iklim Mabul and saw trash, such as fishing lines, plastic sachets and bottles, weighing almost 150kg collected,” he added.
At Sibuan Island, divers with Sabah Parks and Selakan Marine Conservation Group collected about 82kg of rubbish, mostly plastic bottles, while in Kulapuan Island, divers with the Kulapuan Marine Conservation Group collected around 7kg of discarded items, mainly ghost nets, around the turtle resting area, he added.
“Our next destinations will be the Selakan and Boheyan islands,” said Adzmin.
He said he hoped programmes like these would educate the community on the need to take better care of the marine environment.
He added that these activities were not only just for the international coastal clean-up initiative but also held in conjunction with the National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations.
“We want to show our love for the environment and our care for the country by doing our part, and doing what we know best, diving,” he said.
During the event, divers also carried the Sabah state flag and Jalur Gemilang underwater to mark Malaysia Day.
