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SANDAKAN: The existing dumpsite near Mile 8, Jalan Lintas Sibuga here failed to comply with the required environmental regulations and is posing a serious health hazard to the people.

Member of Parliament for Sandakan, Vivian Wong (pic), said she received numerous complaints from residents in Mile 6 and 7, here, especially from those who live in Taman Mawar and Taman Sibuga about the perennial pungent smell in their housing estates. A recent meeting between her office and the District Department of Environment also revealed a disturbing find that the existing dump site had been operating without complying with the environmental rules and regulations.

“This is the only dumpsite in Sandakan, where an estimated 400 to 450 tonnes of rubbish and solid waste are sent there on a daily basis by Majlis Perbandaran Sandakan (MPS). “But apparently it has not been properly managed as a proper landfill facility found in other parts of Malaysia. No leachate treatment. No landfill gas treatment. Rubbish is simply being sent to the location and slowly being piled up to be a man-made mountain.

“Can you imagine the second largest city in Sabah, not only without a proper solid waste disposal facility… an existing dumpsite located next to a river and another large part of it on swampy land with no proper road access, and it is a mere 300m from the nearest housing estate. “It is a health and safety time bomb, especially during this pandemic. This is simply not acceptable.

“What is the point of spending so much money and resources to fight the current pandemic when we have a huge bio-hazard sitting in our own backyard? I pray hard that we will not be the epicentre of a public health disaster in the near future,” she said.

Vivian said providing a safe, clean and healthy living environment for the rakyat is the fundamental responsibility of any government. Hence, she urged the Minister of Local Government and Housing as well as MPS, as the authority in charge on the matter, to take immediate action. “Any further delay on this matter will clearly demonstrate a lack of care by the local government,” she added.