GEORGE TOWN: The recent long Hari Raya holiday saw Penang welcoming thousands of visitors from all over the country.

       They also left behind nearly 3,000 tonnes of trash.

       From April 30 to May 4, the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) collected 2,874.99 tonnes of rubbish from tourist spots and busy streets.

       Contract cleaner Mohamed Ibrahim Mydin, 80, said there was more rubbish at the Esplanade during the holiday season compared with normal days.

       “We collected around 15 bags of rubbish on Sunday morning alone. Before the holiday season, we only had between five and six bags of rubbish daily.What a load of rubbish: A MBPP worker cleaning the beach in Batu Ferringhi, Penang, last weekend. — Picture courtesy of MBPP

       “The trash ranged from tissue paper, food containers and plastic bottles to paper, plastic bags and even unfinished meals.

       “There are traders selling games for kids at night and the plastic bottles were thrown everywhere.

       “Although we cleaned every morning and evening, there was still a lot of rubbish on the field here,” he said when met at the Esplanade on Sunday.

       Mohamed Ibrahim said the public was not bothered to throw their waste into the bins although there were several such bins nearby.

       MBPP Urban Services Department acting director Mohd Zamzuri Hussain said tourist areas such as Esplanade, Batu Ferringhi, Karpal Singh Drive and Persiaran Bayan Indah were popular with visitors during the long holiday break.

       “Most of the garbage collected was food and beverage packaging,” he said.

       “The amount of garbage collected on the first day of Hari Raya this year doubled due to changes in date and the collection had to be done in the morning.”

       Mohd Zamzuri said that during the Hari Raya celebration, some 200 MBPP cleaning workers were on duty.

       He added that this did not include the council’s cleaning contract workers who were also on duty during the festive holiday period.

       “Moreover, the leave for several essential MBPP departments and frontliners including the Urban Services Department were frozen during the celebration,” Mohd Zamzuri said.

       He advised visitors to always keep public areas clean.

       “Traders also play an important role by collecting and disposing of garbage properly and disposing of garbage only in the bins provided and not everywhere,” he said.

       Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) also expressed disappointment over littering problems in the state, especially during the holiday period.

       Its president Mohideen Abdul Kader said the indiscriminate dumping showed the lack of civic-mindedness and care for the environment.

       “We strongly condemn this kind of attitude. There are enough warnings and messages to keep our city clean.

       “But some of them are just not bothered about keeping the environment clean.

       “They always have this thought that someone else will collect the rubbish,” he said.

       He said more MBPP enforcement officers should be deployed to tourist areas during long holiday periods to keep an eye.