GEORGE TOWN: About 800kg of rubbish was collected by volunteers on Pulau Gazumbo in just two hours during a recent clean-up programme.
The rubbish had washed up onto the 3ha uninhabited islet off Penang island’s eastern coast next to the Penang Bridge.
About 100 volunteers managed to gather thousands of plastic bottles, food wrappers, spent fireworks tubes, torn fishing nets, old ship ropes, pieces of polystyrene, and other flotsam, including rubber slippers.
“It is disheartening to see that people are still dumping waste into the sea.
“Although only a small portion ends up on Pulau Gazumbo, it endangers the habitat of many marine species that breed there,” said Penang Island City Council (MBPP) Urban Services Department director Rashidah Jalaludin.
Despite MBPP having contract workers to regularly clean up the islet, she said that rubbish continues to wash up on its shores.
“This shows that the problem starts from irresponsible disposal upstream and along our coastline,” she said during the recent programme, Plogclean on Gazumbo.
Pulau Gazumbo plays an important ecological role, as it is surrounded by shallow waters and seagrass beds, providing refuge for marine life.
Environmentalists warned that plastic pollution poses a serious threat to its fragile ecosystems.
Recognising the need for long-term solutions, Rashidah said the city council is stepping up its efforts beyond periodic clean-ups.
She said the council is working with its Japanese partners to launch a large-scale environmental initiative known as the Blue Santa Malaysia Programme.
The programme, she said, is expected to strengthen awareness of marine conservation and sustainable waste management.
MBPP mayor Datuk A. Rajendran, who launched the clean-up programme, said that protecting Pulau Gazumbo’s fragile marine ecosystems is a shared responsibility.
“When young people take part in activities like these, they become ambassadors of change.
They carry the message of environmental cleanliness back to their schools, families and peers,” he said.
He said that youth engagement was a key objective of the clean-up initiative to allow them to better understand the impact of pollution.
