‘Geng Plastik Ija’ keeps Terengganu beaches clean
THE beauty of Terengganu’s coast, stretching 244km, is mesmerising. However, it is sometimes marred by litter, because of irresponsible individuals who throw rubbish at will.
To combat this, some 100 members of a group known as “Geng Plastik Ija” (GPI), or the “Green Plastic Gang”, get together every weekend to collect the rubbish and clean the beach area,
GPI chairman Zulkefli Sarji said since the group was formed in 2017, it had become a routine for the members to don their green T-shirts and carry green plastic bags while walking along the beach every weekend to clear the stretch of any litter.
“In the beginning, it was just me and my wife, Normazita Ali, 45, as we always spent the afternoon walking on the beach.
“Seeing so much litter left by visitors and picnickers, which is an eyesore, drove us us to collect it during our evening stroll, and it then became a routine.
“After that, friends joined us and when they posted about our activity on social media, more individuals joined in and this led to the setting up of GPI,” said the 52year-old engineer with an oil and gas company at a programme to clean up Pantai Pandak in Chendering, here.
He said in the early stages, GPI focused on the beaches in Kemaman and Dungun, as most of the members were from the two districts.
However, in 2019, when more people, including from Kuala Terengganu, joined GPI, its activities were expanded to coastal areas in Kuala Terengganu, Marang, Setiu and Besut, he added.
Apart from fulfilling their fardhu kifayah responsibility as Muslims, Zulkefli said GPI members hoped their actions would be emulated by others in keeping beaches clean in their area.
“The beach can provide an income.
When the beach is beautiful and clean, many people, including from outside Terengganu, will come to visit. Indirectly, it can improve the economy of the locals because they can do business selling food and so on.”
Zulkefli said GPI also saw the participation of students, including from tahfiz centres and schools.
GPI representative from Kuala Terengganu, Dr Mohd Arif Hafizi, 31, said in one programme at Pantai Kemasik in Kemaman in August last year, group members collected 389kg of rubbish in just a few hours.
Normally, 70 to 80 per cent of the rubbish found on the beaches is flotsam, as well as fishing nets and glass bottles, especially during the monsoon season. The remaining rubbish are leftover food, tissue paper and plastic bags left behind by visitors and picnickers, he added.
“Plastic rubbish is the most worrying because it is difficult to decompose and can threaten marine life if carried by the waves to the middle of the sea,” said the doctor at Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital here.
Dr Arif said the plastic bottles and papers that they collected were sent to recycling centres.
A young participant, Aufa Irdina Najmi Mohd Nazri, 12, from Kemaman, said she would wake up as early as 5am on weekends to follow her mother, Shamni Mohamad, 45, and father, Mohd Nazri Abdullah, 47, to collect rubbish at the beach.
“If the cleaning programme is on a beach far from Kemaman, such as in Kuala Terengganu, my siblings and I will have to get up earlier.
“It is tiring, but I am happy because after the beach is cleaned, we can play in a beautiful and clean environment,” said the girl, who was with her siblings, 9-yearold brother Mohd Dafiq Dayan Najmi and 6-year-old sister Aissa Balqish Najmi.