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SEMPORNA: On a glossy postcard, Semporna, located on the southeastern coast of Sabah off the Celebes Sea, is sold as the ultimate bucket-list destination.

Hordes of tourists, particularly scuba divers and snorkelers, travel thousands of miles to experience the crystal-clear waters and vibrant coral reefs of the islands off Semporna town.

But step onto one of the five jetties on the mainland, and all that fantasy cracks. Beneath this booming tourism hub lies deep problems.

The salty ocean breeze smells like diesel. Below, the water is filled with drifting plastic. Best advice for navigating the sea off Semporna: close your eyes, get on the speedboat and head straight to the islands.

For those working on the frontlines of Semporna’s tourism industry, the sea pollution is impossible to ignore. Aquila Chu, a 41-year-old scuba diving instructor, has been bringing international tourists to nearby world-renowned dive sites like Sipadan Island for years.

But the worsening filth at the mainland jetties leaves him deeply frustrated. He watches as the very ecosystem his clients pay to see is choked by domestic waste, prompting his grim advice to tourists to just “go directly to the islands”.

Yong Lip Khiong, a divemaster and programme director at the Sabah Diving Squad Club, said plastic bottles discarded into the sea have literally become makeshift homes for marine life.

These objects do not just tarnish the stunning views but cause irreversible harm to the fragile marine creatures that make Semporna famous globally.

More often than not, the undocumented and stateless Bajau Laut community dwelling in water villages off Semporna are blamed for the floating waste.

(A 2024 general survey by the Eastern Sabah Security Command showed that out of an estimated 28,000 members of the Bajau Laut community in Semporna, only 6,200 are recognised as Malaysian citizens.)

But Chu offers a harsh reality check that cuts through the scapegoating. How can anyone expect a neglected community to champion marine conservation when their most basic needs are lacking?

“The undocumented are not going to care about the environment when clean drinking water itself is already a problem for them. The crux of the issue here isn’t simply a lack of awareness… it is a complete absence of municipal infrastructure, there is no place for them to dispose of rubbish,” he said.

For fisherman Otoh Lasa, 68, who lives in Kampung Air here, the floating garbage is “not an option”.

“It’s a modern problem we never asked for and we’ve no tools or means to deal with it,” he said.

“People say we are dirty. But 50 years ago, everything we threw into the sea came from the earth – fish bones, tapioca peels, banana leaves. The sea would take it back… the modern world brought us plastic, but it did not bring ways to dispose of it. The sea does not absorb plastic.”

The authorities have issued stern warnings against dumping garbage into the sea. Pamphlets have also been distributed to raise awareness on proper trash disposal.

But for Otoh and his Bajau Laut community, the solution is not lectures, but basic logistical support.

He said what they need is a “garbage boat” or municipal vessel that carries out scheduled daily waste collection from the water villages, similar to the garbage trucks that serve the mainland. They also need public bins placed at the mainland jetties.

Another thing they need is access to clean piped water. At present, without proper water supply, families are forced to rely on thousands of single-use plastic bottles for survival – bottles that ultimately end up choking the surrounding waters.

While stronger enforcement and intervention by the local authorities are essential to address Semporna’s waste problem, regular beach clean-ups organised by local non-governmental organisations play a meaningful role in reducing pollution.

Last October, youths from Skuad Anak Sabah made history by collecting a staggering 8,833.80 kilogrammes of trash in Semporna. It was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as the heaviest waste collection by an NGO in Malaysia.

 Meanwhile, a Federal Minister has revealed another major issue related to Semporna’s tourism industry. The town is generating tourism revenue, but most of that wealth is not staying in Sabah. Instead, it is being siphoned away by foreigners.

In February this year, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali told the media his ministry has received reports that 81 accommodation premises in Semporna are largely operated by foreign companies. Some of them are fully foreign-run, while others have strategic “collaborations” with locals.

“It is good that we welcome foreign investors, but we also need to look at and study what results we are actually getting,” he said, raising a red flag about the reality on the ground, especially the true economic benefit to Sabah.

“Maybe there is value in them (foreigners) having networks to bring in tourists from outside. But we must also look at that business chain.”

Armizan pointed out that such a system threatens to completely suffocate grassroots businesses, adding that “we must not let it reach a point where, in the entire business chain, there is no room for local micro, small and medium enterprises to thrive”.

A 45-year-old local charter boat operator, who wished to be known only as Azman, said Armizan’s warning is no exaggeration but a reality he faces every day.

He said his business has managed to stay afloat due to the overwhelming number of tourists flocking to Semporna. However, he stressed that local operators like himself are now up against an invisible barrier.

“We are simply surviving by relying on independent travellers, backpackers and domestic tourists. But the real money – large groups of international tourists generating lucrative returns – is beyond our reach,” he added.

Every day, he watches this “closed business network” operating right before his eyes.

“Tourists arrive at the airport (in Tawau) and are immediately picked up by foreign-owned vans (and taken to Semporna). They stay in accommodation booked by overseas ‘bosses’, dine at their designated seafood restaurants, and go diving with their own ‘imported’ instructors,” he said.

Within this closed-loop system, much of the tourist spending barely reaches Semporna’s local economy. Even when boats are needed for island-hopping activities, operators within the foreign network hire only from foreign-backed companies, sidelining Azman and other Sabah-based entrepreneurs.

“In the past, we used to be the service providers, but now we are slowly pushed to the edges and left to watch the ringgit flowing past without a single sen reaching the local community,” he lamented.

Although his income remains stable for now, Azman is concerned about the future of local entrepreneurs if this monopoly continues unchecked.

This economic “hijacking” has also infiltrated the very core of Semporna’s appeal: scuba diving. In this regard, the Malaysia Scuba Diving Association (MSDA) has expressed deep frustration at what it describes as the “rampant influx of illegal, unregistered foreign scuba instructors”.

MSDA President Aminor Azmi Abdul Latip called out the “Ali Baba” culture which, according to him, is slowly suffocating the local diving industry. In such a setup, a local Sabahan would hold the business licence on paper, acting merely as a legal front to satisfy regulatory requirements.