A picture of Senadin Wetland taken from afar.
MIRI: The appalling scene of hundreds of plastic bottles of expired yoghurt drink disposed indiscriminately at Senadin Wetland has sparked an outcry among Mirians following the discovery two days ago.
When contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday, Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Miri branch treasurer Iqbal Abdollah said the plastic bottles scattered all over the site was a very worrying sight.
“The wetland works as an ecosystem to nature, such as providing freshwater by filtering bad water as well as flood control, groundwater recharge, et cetera.
“The pollution caused by the liquid yoghurt does not impact much on the water on the site. But I am more worried about the hundreds of plastic bottles there, and some of them are even absorbed into the land. I suspect these pollutants have been there for a period of time,” Iqbal said.
The drinks are obviously expired as seen from the expiry date on the bottles, whilst the coagulated yoghurt could be seen all over the site.
Though he said the manufacturing company should take responsibility for the matter, he did not want to start finger-pointing yet as the company should be given time to trace the culprit.
“I had obtained the manufacturing codes from the bottles and inquired Nestlé on the matter. I am now waiting for their response. The manufacturing code could be used to trace the supplier/distributer, whom I assume to be the one responsible for this,” he said over the phone.
After inquiring from a friend in the food industry, Iqbal said the way the expired food product was disposed was wrong.
“I was told that usually established brands such as Nestlé encourage their distributors to return the expired products and they could get a discount for it. Disposing it in such a way looks very suspicious, and is highly hazardous to the environment.”
Iqbal, who shared the post on his personal Facebook after being notified by a friend, added that he had pledged to his friends to share the post as a reminder to the public.
“I need to spread the message and dumping indiscriminately should not be encouraged,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mayor Adam Yii, when contacted, said a police report on the incident would be lodged.
“After that, the city council will be seeking advice and assistance from the Department of Environment (DoE) and also Nestlé to check on the matter.
“The site, which is under the jurisdiction of the city council, will be investigated also by both MCC (Miri City Council) and DoE.
“Nestlé is a reputable company, thus we will contact them to assist in the case, hoping that we are able to find out the culprit who allegedly disposed them indiscriminately,” Yii told The Borneo Post.