SEMPORNA: A Semporna-based aid group has embarked on an ambitious project on the island of Mabul, exchanging packs of food for bags of rubbish collected by the residents.
The three-day Mabul Trash Heroes project that started on Sunday came about after the success of the Semporna Heroes’ initial trip to the island to deliver food.
Founder of Semporna Heroes Samuel Lee said they wanted to combine their aid effort with education.
That was the reason for this project as they hoped to raise awareness about cleanliness and hygiene in order for residents to stave off illnesses such as Covid-19, dengue and cholera.
“We usually go to the island with a full load of food, and we leave with an empty boat. This time, we wanted to go in with a full load of food and leave with a full load of rubbish.”
In the first two days, they collected nearly seven tonnes of rubbish from the island, and they expect to collect another seven tonnes by the time the initiative is over.
“Mabul is a diving paradise, so when the tourism business is booming and resorts are operating, we have a lot of boat movement between Mabul and Semporna, and the rubbish can be brought back to the mainland to be disposed of,” Lee said.
“But rubbish has been piling up during the pandemic because without tourists coming, nobody is taking it away.”
Each food pack contains 10kg of rice, 1kg of oil, a bottle of soya sauce, 1kg of flour, 1kg of sugar and a pack of coffee and mee goreng.
In order to get their food pack, he said, residents had to bring five full rubbish bags to the organisers, from their own house or collected from the beach.
The group is cautious about maintaining physical distancing, and has done extensive work to ensure everybody gets their turn to collect their food without creating a crowd.
Lee also said volunteers had to take swab tests and prove negative to join the project.
He said the response from residents had been good, and hoped they could extend the programme to other islands experiencing the same pile-up. –
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