City Hall is cracking down on those who dispose of their rubbish indiscriminately along the road leading to a Manggatal commercial centre.
This action follows feedback about the refuse strewn about near the planter boxes and on the pavement beside the Grand Merdeka Mall.
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A Manggatal resident bemoaned the bits of litter – including cigarette butts, empty styrofoam food containers and plastic cups – left behind along a section of Bandar Sierra Boulevard 1 by many patrons of the night-market held outside the Mall.
The individual provided Hotline with the pertinent details which were forwarded to the agency.
A spokesman for its Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD) warned that anyone caught throwing their refuse haphazardly on the road-shoulder beside the Mall risked being served with a compound for as much as RM500 under City Hall’s Anti-Litter By-Laws 1984 (Amendment 2005).
“We are aware that some nightmarket-goers have the habit of sitting against the planter boxes to enjoy the food and drinks they have bought at the stalls,” he said.
“Others sit in their vehicles to do this.
“Whatever the case, these individuals should dispose of their garbage responsibly in bins and not leave the common area in a mess.
“If they fail to be more civic minded, when it comes to getting rid of their rubbish, and are witnessed littering, then we will not hesitate to take them to task.”
He said SWMD officers met with a staff from the Mall’s management, who oversees the nightmarket, to discuss what had been transpiring there on Wednesday.
“Our personnel were made to understand that the part of the compound, where the nightmarket is held, is cleaned up daily after the stalls close.”
To prove that it means business, City Hall penalised 11 litterbugs during a random check carried out along this part of Bandar Sierra Boulevard 1 between 4.00pm and 8.00pm later that same day.
“We will continue to monitor the goings-on around the road and the Mall from time to time.”
He said those who repeatedly disregarded the agency’s calls to refrain from littering in the common areas could wind up having legal action taken against them.
“They will become liable to a fine for as much as RM 10,000, if they are found guilty in court.”
The spokesman said City Hall had been coming down hard on littering violations in a bid to get the public to take a more active role in keeping its rating-area clean.
“It is not just up to our garbage collectors and street-sweepers to keep the commercial properties around our rating-area looking presentable and pleasing to the eye, especially to the many first time visitors from abroad.
“It is the collective responsibility of everyone who lives, works and frequents these locales.”
The agency collected a total of RM1,700 in the on-the-spot compounds from 85 wrongdoers, including those at the Mall, as part of its “Ops Bersih” in July, according to him.
“The Mall had the most offenders when it came to areas inspected outside the City.
“This was followed by Inanam, where nine errant individuals were nabbed. Six were taken to task around Manggatal.”
Between four to five SWMD inspectors in plain clothes carried out 34 separate inspections between July 1 and July 31.
Besides Grand Merdeka Mall, Inanam and Manggatal, the Department’s team also went to Damai Plaza, Likas Plaza, Mini Putrajaya, Kingfisher Plaza, the Indah Permai shops and the Salut Commercial Centre, according to the spokesman.
When it came to the City, he said checks were made around the Bandaran Berjaya shophouses, as well as those around Kg Air and Sinsuran.
On top of this, checks were also made of the common areas around Centre Point Sabah and Gaya Street.
“The highest number of litterbugs was nabbed around Centre Point (11), followed by Kg Air (nine) and Bandaran Berjaya (eight).”
