Solid waste management in Pulau Ketam - Alam Flora's experience

• Main Author: Yaacob, Sarifah
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2004
• Subjects: G Geography (General); GV Recreation Leisure
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/3813/1/Sol1.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/3813/
• Institution: Universiti Utara Malaysia

Pulau Ketam used to be a "foul stench island" but it has turned into "fishing heaven and seafood paradise". Neither solid waste management system nor cleansing services were provided for more than 100 years. The main objective of this paper is to present the challenges faced by Alam Flora during the initial period in introducing and managing the solid waste as well as changing the mind set of the local people. The island with a total population around 10,800 people can be described as "a dirty,smelly and floating rubbish dump". Buried and newly thrown organic wastes and recyclable materials were seen around and under the 1,500 on-stilts premises. Travel agents were forced to cancel the foul stench island from the list of 'must see sports". The island's great potentials - a fishing spot, mangrove sight seeing, rare species bird watching and delicious fresh seafood - seemed diminishing. Due to these critical factors, the Selangor state government has approved Alam Flora's proposal and gave the company the responsibility to manage solid waste on the island since October 1999. A systematic solid waste service has successfully transformed the residents' attitudes towards acceptance and practice of sustainable solid waste management. Improvement in cleanliness has led to eco-tourism enhancement. The mushrooming of seafood restaurants, the increase of fishing productivity and also the increase in tourism industry has created more job opportunities for the residents especially youngsters. Creation of "conservation of natural resources culture" instead of "throw away culture" and also the island's uniqueness has created immense interest among local and overseas to visits, researchers, academicians and environmentalists to visit the island.