KOTA KINABALU: Sabah based Blue Life ecoservices is working with the communities on Pulau Mantanani to rid the island of plastic wastes.
Blue Life ecoservices project manager, Iqbal Abdul Rahim stressed the necessity of the project and how it was helping to bring back dolphins and sea turtles to the island.
“The water surrounding the island used to be the home of the dugong. They cannot be found anymore. Perhaps with the improved condition, they will come back,” he said.
Aside from making things better for the marine animals, Iqbal said that the project called “Fishing for litter – recycling of marine plastic litter through social enterprise ‘Clean Coast Rangers Mantanani’” also raised the local community’s awareness on the importance of not dumping their wastes into the sea.
At the same time, it also allowed the local community an alternative source of income.
He explained that the accumulation of plastic wastes on and around the island cannot be solely blamed on the local folks.
“The island is faced by (sea) currents from various directions and brings in these wastes,” he said.
He also mentioned that the island was selected due to its white sandy beaches and clear water.
“The problem was the rubbish since there was no waste management…it provides a negative impression for Mantanani,” he said.
Since the implementation of the project a year ago, the communities at Mantanani have been slowly changing and have stopped throwing their wastes into the sea.
Instead they bring it to the resort and the resort, in turn brings the waste to the mainland for disposal, he said.
Iqbal reiterated that they were not paid by any of the resorts to carry out their activity.
“We get volunteers from overseas who provide us with the means to carry out our activities,” he said.
Blue Life ecoservices was awarded with RM60,000 in grant for the project by Shell Malaysia yesterday.