International Coastal Cleanup Penang

Photos from ICC Penang 2011: Cleaning Gurney Drive, 30 Oct 2011

otterman — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:08:38 +0000

Click the image below for the link to Lorrissa Chan’s facebook album of 200 photos from the ICC Penang Gurney Drive (30 Oct 2011) cleanup.

MNS: mangrove instead of reclamation at Gurney Drive

otterman — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:57:44 +0000

“Malaysian Nature Society suggests mangrove trees for Gurney Drive instead of reclamation,” by Aaron Ngui. The Sun Daily, 14 Dec 2011 [WS link].

“GEORGE TOWN (Dec 13, 2011): The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) does not agree with suggestions that the Gurney Drive shoreline be reclaimed, to overcome the siltation and mud build-up at the area.

Its Penang branch advisor D. Kanda Kumar told theSun that planting mangrove trees was a simple and low-tech way to tackle the matter, emphasising that mud build-up along the shoreline was a natural occurrence.

He said the area could be turned into a mangrove forest reserve which could become a tourist attraction.

“The forest will be a natural shelter for birds and other wildlife as well as attracting fish back into the area,” he said when asked to comment on the statement by the Penang Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) that reclamation was the solution to stop the build-up of mud along the shoreline of the popular tourist attraction.

“Reclamation is not the solution,” he said, adding that any future reclamation should be put on hold until a proper master plan on reclamation in Penang is conducted.

Kanda also called on the authorities to gazette the area as a reserve once the mangrove trees were planted to protect the area for the future.

State DID deputy director Mohd Abu Bakar Othman told a forum on Tuesday that reclamation would allow currents to go smoothly along the curvature of the reclaimed beach.

If the proposal is carried out, an area estimated to be as big as 97ha may be reclaimed along the popular coastal stretch.

Mohd Abu Bakar said the build-up of mud and silt at the Gurney Drive shoreline was due to weak sea currents caused by major reclamation at the nearby Seri Tanjung Pinang residential and commercial project, and pollution due to the 2004 tsunami.”

“Meanwhile, the state government is mulling over proposals by companies interested in collecting mud from Gurney Drive and other areas like Kuala Muda in Seberang Perai, for the purpose of making bricks for the construction industry.

State Environment committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said local companies, as well as Japanese and Chinese companies, have expressed their interest.

Although he conceded that collecting the mud would be a temporary solution, Phee said that the mud would have to be removed anyway if reclamation was approved for Gurney Drive.

He, however, added any decision to reclaim land in the area would only be made when a comprehensive hydro-flow plan for the state was completed.

“With the plan, we will know where to reclaim and where not to reclaim,” he said when contacted.

theSun reported in September that the state is formulating a comprehensive hydro-flow plan as a reference for future reclamation works.”

Results of the 3rd ICC Penang 2011

coastalcleanuppenang — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:52:18 +0000

On 16th October 2011 morning, 460 volunteers joined the international community to pick, categorise, count and remove over 13,000 items of marine debris from the beach of Pantai Kuala Muda. This is Penang’s 3rd year of participation the International Coastal Cleanup programme.

The top five items of marine litter were:

6,154 Plastic Bags
1,595 Styrofoam pieces
1,373 Straws, stirrers
560 Food wrappers / Containers
414 Plastic Beverage bottles, 2 liters or less

The full results of ICC Penang 2011 can be viewed here here

Congratulations to all on another successful International Coastal Cleanup!

Photos from ICCP 2011 at Pantai Kuala Muda

coastalcleanuppenang — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:28:35 +0000

ICCP 2011 at Pantai Kuala Muda

Kids transferring a fishing net to the trash collection point

Starting from young: the cleanup is a great platform to instill environmental awareness

ICC Penang – third year of environmental action!

coastalcleanuppenang — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 05:38:43 +0000

The cleanup this year was held at Pantai Kuala Muda on 16th October 2011.

More news soon!

‘Rubbish strewn everywhere’ at Taman Negara Pulau Pinang

coastalcleanuppenang — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:20:58 +0000

Northern Malaysia Natural Heritage is a webpage featuring the natural heritage of northern Peninsular Malaysia (Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak north of Kuala Kangsar). This project, supervised by Chan Ngai Weng and Abu Talib Ahmad of Unversity Sains Malaysia was active between January to August 2010.

On 24th February 2010 they blogged about Penang National Park in the northeast of the island (gazetted 2003). In the post, they say,

“The biggest threat of the park is garbage disposal. Rubbish were strewn everywhere in the park. Most garbage was washed ashore from the tides. Attitude of local picnickers in discarding garbage without any consideration of the cleanliness of the park.”

Under “Mitigation” suggestions, they include,

“Need strict enforcement [against littering] by the park authority. Need to provide more rubbish bins at strategic areas and the need to collect them according to schedules. Declaration of water bottles and food packages brought into the park.”

Read their entire post which details the facilities, potential and threats of the eight beaches of Penang’s young national park at the Northern Malaysia Natural Heritage blog post.

See also: Hong, C. W. & N. W. Chan, 2010. The potentials, threats and challenges in sustainable development of Penang National Park. Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management, 11(2): 95-109.

“Clean-up on Butterworth beaches” (The Star, 26 Sep 2010)

coastalcleanuppenang — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 06:44:09 +0000

“Clean-up on Butterworth beaches,” by Christina Chin. The Star, 26 Sep 2010.

“BUTTERWORTH: Used condoms, underwear and sarong were among the 2,362kg of rubbish collected during the state’s first massive beach clean-up in Seberang Prai at two popular beaches here.

Most of the garbage collected during the four-hour clean-up covering a 800m stretch of Pantai Robina and 1.2km of Pantai Bersih were food packaging and plastic water bottles.

Event organising chairman Koay Teng Hai said it was possible that the clothing and condoms had drifted to the shore from elsewhere.

“Most of what we collected were food-related items meaning that it’s very likely to be rubbish left by picnickers.

“The ambiance here is nicer than Gurney Drive on Penang island but unfortunately, rubbish is being thrown indiscriminately,” he said.

At least 1,000 people turned up for the International Coastal Cleanup programme yesterday.

Penang was among an estimated 100 countries which participated in the international programme.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng launched the event and later the state’s green initiative website (http://greenstate.penang.gov.my).

The programme is part of the “Cleaner, Greener Penang” initiative, co-organised by The Star and the Penang and Seberang Prai municipal councils with support from the state government, to create environmental awareness among the public.”

Results of the 2nd ICC Penang 2010

coastalcleanuppenang — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 06:22:58 +0000

For the second year running, Penang has participated in the International Coastal Cleanup. This year is a special occasion, being the 25th anniversary of this largest marine environment programme of its kind. The cleanup opening was graced by the Chief Minister Mr Lim Guan Eng.

This morning, more than 600 volunteers joined the international community to pick, categorise, count and remove almost 23,000 items of marine debris from the beaches at Pantai Bersih and Pantai Robina.

A distance of 1,300 metres along the shoreline was covered by volunteers from which more than two tonnes of marine trash was removed from Penang’s beaches.

The top ten items of marine litter were:

5,196 Plastic Bags
3,510 Cigarettes / Cigarette Filters
2,079 Food wrappers / Containers
1,977 Straws, stirrers
1,650 Plastic Beverage bottles, 2 liters or less
1,626 Cups, plates, forks, knives, spoons
1,182 Glass Beverage bottles
955 Styrofoam pieces
804 Cigar Tips
633 Caps, lids

The full results of ICC Penang 2010 can be viewed here here

Congratulations to all on another successful International Coastal Cleanup!

“Beach to be swept clean” – The Star

coastalcleanuppenang — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 07:01:19 +0000

“Beach to be swept clean,” by M. Sivanantha Sharma. The Star, 21 Sep 2010.

ABOUT 2,000 people are expected to take part in the International Coastal Cleanup programme at Taman Robina and Pantai Bersih in Butterworth, Penang, on Saturday.

The campaign is part of the ‘Cleaner, Greener Penang’ initiative co-organised by The Star and the Penang and Seberang Prai municipal councils with support from the state government.

Raring to go: Koay (fourth left) and committee members showing a banner during a press conference at Taman Robina in Butterworth, Penang, yesterday.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng will launch the event at Pantai Robina, Bagan Ajam, at 6.30am. It involves cleaning up a 3km stretch of the beach between Taman Robina and Pantai Bersih.

Event organising chairman Koay Teng Hai said the rubbish found in the sea was mainly discarded into it directly or thrown into rivers and carried there.

He also said some of the garbage had entered Malaysian waters from neighbouring nations.

“Based on my observation, about 130 bags of rubbish from neighbouring countries can be collected in seven days,” Koay, who is also Pulau Tikus assemblyman, told a press conference yesterday.

He said apart from the programme, other government agencies would also take part in the programme, including the Election Commission (to register new voters), National Association for Drug Prevention Malaysia (Pemadam) as well as the state health and welfare departments.

Nokia’s South-East Asia and Pacific sustainability manager Tan Mei Ling, whose company is also taking part in the campaign, said they would continue their role to help create public awareness and encourage the people to embrace a greener lifestyle.

She said they would conduct a roadshow during the event to educate the public on the benefits of e-waste recycling, including recycling of old mobile phones and accessories.

Tan said a mobile recycling truck would be at the site for the public to bring along their unwanted cellular phones of any brand to be recycled.

“They will then get a chance to take part in a contest to guess the nearest all-correct number of old handphones in a box and stand to win a brand new Nokia mobile phone,” she said.

The public can also try their luck at a ‘Spin the Wheel’ where they stand to win Eco premiums from Nokia for every old phone recycled.

Such gifts include T-shirts, pen drives made from bamboo, pencils made from old newspapers, recycled notebooks and recycling bags and caps made from recycled bottles and packaging materials.

ICC Penang 2010 posters!

coastalcleanuppenang — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:51:53 +0000

Facebook group – “Penang Coastal Cleanup Program“