Photo 1: The community of Bagan Hailam working together to clean up the designated area in the fishing village at the Bagan Hailam Cleanup Programme 2019, jointly sponsored by Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA), Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB) Waste Management Sdn Bhd, Chevron Phillips Chemical Malaysia and Tzu-Chi Malaysia.
Photo 2 & 3: Before and after photos of the designated clean up area in Bagan Hailam
KLANG, 3 NOVEMBER 2019: The Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) has taken its campaign to raise awareness on marine litter and pollution to the century-old fishing village of Bagan Hailam, Selangor, clearing 2.5 tonnes of litter in a hot-spot area that was strewn with rubbish.
The Bagan Hailam Cleanup Programme 2019 brought together Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB) Waste Management Sdn Bhd, Chevron Phillips Chemical Malaysia, Tzu-Chi Malaysia and MPMA. The Programme Partners working together with the community, spent the better half of the morning clearing the hot spot.
“Marine litter and pollution is a result of ineffective waste management and lack of civic awareness. We want to change this by putting a stop to the behavioural problem that is littering and keep the community informed on proper ways in managing their waste,” said MPMA Vice President, Dato’ Raymond Sng.
The 2.5 tonnes of rubbish was largely contaminated waste which was taken by KDEB Waste Management to the Jeram sanitary landfill.
The clean up event is part of a longer-term effort to empower the residents of Bagan Hailam to address improper waste disposal, and raise awareness on marine litter and the importance of preventing pollution in the rivers and marine environment.
Joint sponsor KDEB Waste Management will be providing leach bins at specific locations in Bagan Hailam to encourage the proper disposal of waste, which will reduce marine litter and mismanaged plastics waste. Meanwhile, volunteers from Tzu-Chi will continue to hold a recycling day once a month in the area where they have been since 2016.
“Education and raising awareness is key in changing behaviour and KDEB is pleased to collaborate with MPMA, Chevron Phillips and Tzu Chi for Bagan Hailam. This clean up is part of KDEB’s ongoing efforts since 2017 to spread awareness in targeted communities who may be less informed on the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle),” said Puan Mahfuzah Binti Muhamad Tarmidi, Head of Media and Public Relation.
Since 2018, MPMA has initiated beach cleanup activities in several locations across the country as part of The International Coastal Cleanup movement, a programme initiated by Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit environmental advocacy group based in the United States.
In November last year, MPMA had collaborated with Tzu Chi to complete a month long clean up programme with the resident of Sungai Satu, Pulau Ketam, a small fishing village located off the coast near Port Klang which saw an outstanding 9,860 kg of waste collected out of which 800 kg are recyclables that could have been sent to the landfills.
“There needs to be a civic consciousness to handle waste properly and send recyclables to the right place, not misdirected to the landfills. We need to stop the litterbug habits, do our part in supporting an efficient waste management system, in order to build a cleaner and greener Malaysia. I hope that this clean up effort carries on and Bagan Hailam will restore its village beauty and attractions,” Sng concluded.