Judiciary also can't stand it
Published on: Sunday, July 24, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Effective Monday (tomorrow), residents of villages within the city parameters found polluting their areas with rubbish will be charged in court and penalised.Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum said they wanted to heighten the public's awareness to look after the cleanliness of their village and make it free of garbage.He said the matter was being given emphasis since all this while, the surrounding environment would return to its dirty state even after gotong-royongs are repeatedly carried out.
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"We hope after this, law enforcement will be more strict on this matter, where a person if found guilty, not only will be fined RM200- RM300 but ordered to do community service and clean the area."Offenders will be wearing special clothes and made to clear the garbage, when the offenders' pictures showing them clearing garbage are published in the newspapers, the offenders will feel embarrassed. But that is the purpose. We want the public to know. Public awareness, which we will stress on," Malanjum said, at the gotong-royong programme involving judicial staff to clear the garbage in Kg Sembulan Tengah, Saturday."Implementation of the law will be enforced from Monday. Our director of prosecution is ready and City Hall is also ready," said Malanjum, adding that, the matter would no longer be taken lightly.
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"Anyone found guilty, whether villagers or residents, of polluting the environment, will be charged in court." Earlier, Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Edward Yong urged City Hall to take serious action by enforcing the Act to ensure that the city is really clean.
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"I urge the mayor, if possible from Monday, to start enforcing the law and carry out our authority to really clean this place."We want this place to be cleaned but at the same time cooperation from the villagers here is also needed in order to achieve 'zero Sembulan garbage'," he said.He also urged the judicial officers to help with how to improve the law such as on anti-litter and its enforcement."If we take serious action, many houses and families will be fined. If according to the law, City Hall has the power to impose a fine of RM100, RM200 or even RM5,000."But, the government through City Hall really love our people ... we have not taken any action until now," he said."Before this we have always heard comments from the public, tourists and even government officers on the garbage problem in this place since it is located in the city centre, he said.He thanked the Sabah courts for choosing Kg Sembulan Tengah for the programme as their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which was the first time to be conducted in the area."I did gotong-royong several times together with our mayor and previous mayors before but we have not done it in this village, because we have had some enforcement problems," said Yong.Yong called all villagers of Kg Sembulan Tengah, Kg Sembulan Lama and Kampung Sembulan Baru to cooperate by throwing their garbage into the right place as he had noticed that when one place is cleared of garbage after a gotong royong, the place would be full of garbage after three days or a week later.He also reminded the villagers to look after their family members during the current rainy days by cleaning their surroundings to prevent Aedes mosquitoes from breeding and also to refrain from getting leptospirosis and water borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Dengue outbreaks in the area have decreased but there was a leptospirosis case where the patient died. Meanwhile, Sabah Sarawak High Court Registrar Dean Wayne Daly, who is also a Sessions Court Judge, said the programme was organised by the Environmental Working Group of Kota Kinabalu Court in collaboration with City Hall and other government agencies to protect the environment and help the people of Kg Sembulan Tengah to clean their area.He said the idea was mooted by Malanjum with the main aim of giving exposure to all involved parties and Kg Sembulan community on the importance of protecting the environment for the welfare of all.'It is an important step to ensure Kg Sembulan residents live healthily, "he said, adding that about 500 participants took part in the gotong royong including villagers, school students, judicial officers and court staff as well as lawyers.Participants in the half day programme managed to collect about 67 tonnes of garbage in the area.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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