Urgent measures needed to magically transform Sembulan into a clean inhabitants

Sembulan is located not far from the heart of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, but it's very dirty and littered with tons of rubbish.!!


This picture is true and not rubbish!!!

As reported by the Daily Express.

Kampung Sembulan - a part water village about a kilometre from Kota Kinabalu city - has been likened to a patient under intensive care in hospital by Kota Kinabalu Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir.

"Please don't be offended by my remarks. Kg Sembulan was selected to become the first 5K village due to its negative reputation in terms of cleanliness," he said.

Madingkir said he wished to see a cleaner environment there and urged villagers to transform themselves and their perceptions about cleanliness.

He was speaking at launch of making it a 5K village during a ceremony held at Dewan Muhibbah, Sembulan Tengah, on Saturday, 17th March 2012.

The location of the village also had a bearing on the tourism industry, more so with the 5 stars Sutera Harbour Resort, Ming Garden and Oriental Hotel situated nearby.

Apart from that, the location is also near the city centre and is connected to main roads.

"Thankfully, there is a zinc wall boarding the village along the way. Can you imagine if it wasn't there?" said Madingkir.

The filth can be easily be spotted and this is enough to give a lasting negative image of the city and Sabah in general. However, he had faith that the culture of blindly throwing rubbish all over the place can be transformed through proper awareness and a proper system.

The habit of throwing rubbish outside the window or directly into the open water without thinking twice should be abandoned, he said.

Among efforts to bring this about included a gotong royong on March 15, 2012 with house-to-house visits to deliver messages and also a walk known as "Perjalanan Kesedaran".

Explaining the 5Ks which stand for Cleanliness, Beautification, Security, Orderliness and Harmony/Prosperity, Madingkir said villagers must tackle the first K which is Kebersihan (Cleanliness).

"When there is cleanliness, there will be beauty and when there is beauty there will be security, orderliness and harmony/prosperity.

Basically, when there is cleanliness, the rest will just follow."

Meanwhile, two buy back centres at Kampung Sembulan Tengah and Kampung Sembulan Lama were also launched. Rubbish that can be recycled will be bought by recycling companies in an effort to give awareness that rubbish also has value.

"With this approach, villagers will have a new perception towards rubbish and will lead them to abstain themselves from throwing it all over the place. Hopefully, with this effort, they will recognise the value and collect rubbish before sending it to the buy back centres," said Madingkir.

New rubbish traps would also be affixed at every stilt house to set boundaries which will prevent their rubbish from getting into their neighbour's area.

This according to Madingkir, creates a sense of belonging and hoped will bring forth a sense of responsibility to clean their own housing lot.

Sembulan Tengah's Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) Chairman, Ajim Wahid said a few of the previous rubbish traps had been damaged, so new ones are expected to be built by villagers to continue efforts towards seeing a cleaner village.