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Masidi inspects a raft.
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15th June, 2008
KOTA KINABALU: Motorists and their passengers are among the main litterbugs in the city, said State Tourism, Environment and Culture Datuk Masidi Manjun.
He said almost 70 per cent of the litter found in the city originates from moving vehicles.
“All this while, most people think that rubbish in the city are thrown by foreigners but statistics is showing otherwise,” he said.
Speaking at the launch of the 4th Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Environmental Week at Tanjung Aru first beach, Masidi recalled how clean Kota Kinabalu was when he first set foot in the capital in 1962.
“The Karamunsing River was so clean but now nobody wants to take a second look at it,” he said.
However, he said, it is not impossible to rehabilitate the river or other rivers in Sabah and pointed out the work done by the Germans in rehabilitating its polluted rivers.
“But what is important is that our people must be civic-minded for our state to become a better place. We cannot just throw rubbish on the roads and into the rivers as we wish,” he said.
Masidi also urged hotels in Sabah to take the initiative in conserving energy, as how residents in Seoul and Tokyo keep the temperature in their office at 26 degrees to conserve energy.
“Our hotels can emulate this as part of our effort to conserve energy,” he said.
During the event, Masidi flagged off a rafting-relay competition for members of the MAH.
A total of 11 teams comprising eight members will take part in the race where each member must paddle over 150 meters.
The rafts are made of used water bottles, gallon bottles, plastic drums and plywood pieces.
The contest is to create awareness among members on the need to conserve and preserve the environment.
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