Flood scars beauty of Tok Bali Beach

Visitors have had to put up with the waste - empty plastic bottles, rotten wood and dry leaves - scattered in heaps along the sandy beach lined with casuarina and coconut trees.

Siti Masyitah Mohd Sekeri, 30, a visitor from Johor Bahru who had brought her children to the beach during the current school holidays, expressed shock at the condition of the beach.

"It was beautiful when I came here three years ago and I was hoping it would have been maintained in its pristine condition.

"But I was shocked at what I saw today. There is rubbish in heaps here and there, such as empty plastic bottles and rotten wood. It is most saddening," she told Bernama.

Mohd Zulfadhli Rosley, 31, of Pengkalan Chepa, Kota Bharu, said an unkempt beach would jeopardise not only tourism in Tok Bali but also the habitat of marine life.

"I am a nature lover. I love beaches and the sea. How can we maintain the cleanliness of this beach if we do not take care of it?

"I hope the authorities will give serious attention to this matter and not neglect the responsibility to keep the Tok Bali beach clean," he said.

Zakaria Harun, 49, who lives near the beach, said the Dec 18 flood saw floodwaters rise to thigh level and he and his family had to evacuate to a relief centre.

"The heaps of waste at the beach are believed to have been left behind by the flood. I had to clear the waste that had collected around my house," he said.