A REFRIGERATOR and a tractor wheel were among 6.4 tonnes of garbage collected during a massive cleanup of three tourist sites in conjunction with Earth Day.
Volunteers also picked up 51 condoms, 128 diapers, 222 tampons and 53 syringes in the four-hour exercise from 7am to give the northern coastal belt of Penang a new image.
Spick and span: Volunteers picking up rubbish and sweeping along the beaches in Batu Ferringhi in conjunction with Earth Day 2010.
A total of 2,800 volunteers covered three areas — Gurney Drive, Tanjung Bungah and Batu Ferringhi encompassing a distance of 5.7km.
The refrigerator and tractor wheel were found along the Gurney Drive promenade.
According to the data released by Universiti Sains Malaysia marine and coastal studies centre researchers, 5.7 tonnes of garbage were collected in Gurney Drive, 0.3 tonnes in Batu Ferringhi and 0.4 tonnes in Tanjung Bungah.
Hard work: More than five tonnes of rubbish, among them a tractor tyre and a refrigerator, were collected along the Gurney Drive seafront yesterday
The garbage comprises more than 48,000 items.
Among the participants in the cleanup organised by the state government were housewife A. Nanda, 40, who brought two of her five children along.
“I want them to start learning from young on the importance of keeping Penang clean so that a good image is projected to other Malaysians and foreign tourists.
“This is important as Penang was once given the Darul Sampah (rubbish haven) tag and many people still think that the state is dirty,” she said.
Nanda, who stays in Relau, said she chose to participate at Gurney Drive because she could not stand to see rubbish thrown all over the popular seafront.
“I was shocked to find diapers, undergarments, condoms and lubricated bottles. I showed the items to my children aged 12 and 14 to educate them that these items should not be found there.
College student Ho Yu Jing, 18, who came along with his course mates, said they also found tissue papers and party balloons along the Tanjung Bungah beach.
“Youngsters love to celebrate their birthdays along the beach. But after the partying, they leave the trash behind.
“I am glad that we are part of the cleanup team. It gives us a sense of satisfaction to see the beaches clean again,” he said.
A tourist from California, known only as Albert, sustained injuries on his calf after being cut by a glass bottle during the cleanup.
“I found the bottle buried in the sand and placed it in a gunny sack but I did not realise that the glass was sharp and the edge was poking out from the sack,” he said before being sent to the hospital for outpatient treatment.
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