Liew (centre) clearing the trash with Trash Hero Sandakan volunteers during the clean-up programme at Batu Sapi Heritage Park yesterday.
SANDAKAN: Batu Sapi member of parliament cum Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law), Datuk Liew Vui Keong, says that he is in the process of getting a waste incinerator for Sandakan so that the waste could be destroyed without compromising the air quality in Sandakan.
Liew said that Sandakan does not have its own landfill or incinerator to treat waste, such as plastic, therefore all the waste produced and accumulated in Sandakan are sent to a dump site at Mile 8 Labuk Road here.
“I have learned that the people living in Sandakan create some 300 tons of waste per day. All this waste goes to the dump site. I am in the process of getting an incinerator so that all the waste accumulated in Sandakan could be burned without polluting the air,” he said.
Liew said this when attending a clean-up programme at Batu Sapi Heritage Park here, organised by Sail Malaysia PTE 2019 and Trash Hero Sandakan with the support of the Sandakan Municipal Council.
Some 300 participants, who joined the clean-up session, collected about two tons of trash from the beach, which included 1,263 kilograms of plastic bags, 2.1 kilograms of plastic straws, 3.5 kilograms of bottle caps, and 184 kilograms of plastic bottles.
At a press conference held later, Liew said that he supported non-governmental organisations such as Trash Hero Sandakan and thanked them for spreading awareness on the importance to reduce plastic waste.
“These plastic materials that end up in the ocean will float around the world. It is bad for the environment and also bad for our health because the fish will eat the trash, and when we consume the fish, we are consuming the trash too. In support of Trash Hero Sandakan for their good work in spreading awareness around Sandakan, I will be allocating a fund for the NGO to conduct their activities. Batu Sapi parliamentary office will work closely with Trash Hero Sandakan so that they would be able to organise more awareness activities in the future,” he said.
Liew also encouraged locals to use shopping bags, containers and to avoid using plastic straws in order to reduce plastic waste.