Volunteers clear 100 kg garbage from Pulau Perhentian

JERTIH - Volunteers, including scuba divers, collected a total of 100 kg of rubbish from the seabed and beach near Pulau Perhentian island resort yesterday.

Programme adviser Datuk Zuraidah Atan said the amount included 40kg of various types of rubbish collected by 20 divers within an hour of diving.

"Plastic bottles, ropes, shoes and slippers are among the many items collected from the bottom of the 10-metre-deep coral reef and there are still many that have not been collected.

"The types of rubbish collected from the beach are cigarette butts, plastic bottles, drink cans and others,” she told reporters after the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Aware Dive Against Debris programme on the island yesterday.

She also said the programme, which involved 100 volunteers including professional divers, was organised together with Yayasan Salam Malaysia and Black Eye Scuba Team through Sea Daddy Diver Services.

According to Zuraidah, all waste was collected, measured, segregated, weighed and recorded following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) established by PADI. "The data obtained is shared with the PADI Global Database and with government agencies or authorities such as the Fisheries Department for research purposes," she said.

She also said that the programme, which was supported by various agencies including the state and central governments, was carried out in an effort to cultivate the spirit of caring for the environment, especially for marine conservation and beach cleanliness. - BERNAMA