State Government Allocated RM500,000 to clean up Gaya & Sepanggar

Kota Kinabalu: The State government has allocated about RM500,000 to clean up both Gaya island and Sepanggar island.

Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Department, Datuk Edward Yong, said this in response to questions posed on steps taken to tackle problems related to rubbish on these two islands.

"The details still need to be discussed, but the cleaning process should be able to start next month."

Edward and his wife were accompanied by Barisan Nasional members from Tanjung Aru branch in their charity visit (Program Projek Mesra) to three islands - Sepanggar, Gaya and Lokurai, here, Monday.

Contributions in the form of food and money were handed over to about 150 villagers.

"I'm not Muslim, but I appreciate and respect other people's celebrations/festivals. This is what Barisan Nasional (BN) is all about and this is what BN represents," he said.

Apart from that, although he admitted difficulty in pinpointing the root of the problem as to where all of the rubbish actually comes from, he emphasised on education/awareness campaigns as well as cooperation with City Hall and villagers.

"Items which can be recycled such as plastic bags and plastic bottles will be collected and sold."

In relation to this, he said two companies have already been given the green light on this matter. - DE