Cleaning up coastal Penang

2009/09/27

GEORGE TOWN: The newly-initiated International Coastal Clean-up Penang (ICCP) 2009 may help influence policy changes to protect and preserve the marine diversity in the state.

The ICCP 2009, organised in conjunction with the annual international event coordinated by the Ocean Conservancy that promotes healthy and diverse ocean ecosystems, saw about 320 participants from various organisations combing the white sandy beaches of Pasir Pandak and Teluk Aling near the Penang National Park in Teluk Bahang for garbage.

The clean-up, however, was no mere gotong-royong, as the garbage would be sent for data collection by the event organiser, Universiti Sains Malaysia's Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs).

Cemacs director Dr Khairun Yahya said the data collection would reveal what sort of foreign materials were prominent on the coastline and how they could endanger marine life and other creatures.

She hoped such data would pave the way for the implementation of laws and regulations that protect the sea.

The idea of holding a coastal clean-up in Penang was mooted by Penangite Alison Wee, who is pursuing her doctorate in Mangrove Kinetics at the National University of Singapore.

Participants at the clean-up found an old printer on the beach.

Wee said such coastal clean-ups had been held in Singapore for the last 18 years and data collected from the programmes had led to the banning of smoking on beaches.

"If we find a lot of plastic bags here, we may be able to push for the banning of plastic bags on beaches," she said.