EAC

Why should “Bring Your Own Bag” (BYOB) campaign be in “tatters”? It was reported that the Sabah Environmental Action Committee (EAC) collected about RM217,000 from the sale of plastic bags in 2010 during the 'No Plastic Bag' campaign day. How much was collected in 2011 to 2014 especially when the “No plastic Bag” days were increased by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall or KKCH in 2011 and subsequent years. So where has so much money gone to for 2010-2014 when a Police Report was lodged by The Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA)as reported in the local press on Friday 24 of April, 2015 titled “SEPA wants probe into ‘missing money’(BP) and “Poser over whereabouts of plastic bag money” (DE) ? What was reported in the Police Report appears to be very undesirable and very disturbing that EAC given the responsibility for an important keg in the Environmental challenge to do away with the use of plastic bags in Sabah had sort of gone into disarray. The money that was collected by various shopping outlets was supposed to be expended for various environmental projects to bring to bear on the consumers to reduce the usage of plastic bags and the like possibly with the intention to do away with such environmentally damaging bags always found floating in the sea and end up rotting over a long period in the rubbish dumping ground with endless environmental damage. As it was public money collected from “BYOB” project, SEPA considered it a responsibility as the urging at the recent AGM to make it public by lodging a Police Report to put the questioned project and the revenue thereof to a proper focus. Of course, a few critical issues were raised in the Police Report like availability of the documents and records, the presentation of the annual reports together with the financial statement of the EAC for a few years. I would urge the relevant authorities concerned including genuine independent auditors would resolve the pressing matters promptly so that SEPA together with EAC would make concerted effort to tackle the big problems of environmental challenge faced by the State in several key areas. In the meantime, would “BYOB” ongoing campaign be suspended given the current scenario of EAC? Also the smart partnership EAC under SEPA should be strengthened in all aspects. Joshua Y. C. Kong Founder SEPA member and ordinary member. 25 April, 2015