Order to put out the Kudat landfill fires
Published on: Monday, June 29, 2015
Kudat: The Kudat Town Board has been instructed to ensure that any fires at the landfill for the district are properly extinguished.A Department of the Environment spokeswoman said a notice to this affect had been sent to the Board."Our officers inspected the landfill on June 17 and found smoke escaping from parts of the dumpsite," she said.ADVERTISEMENT "The Board will be given a grace-period in which to comply with the Department's actions."She said further action could be taken against the body if the pollution still persisted.The spokeswoman said the Board could be found in violation of the Environmental Quality Act for "open burning", if the nuisance persisted."Open burning" is defined under section 29 (A) of this ordinance as "any fire, combustion or smouldering that occurs in the open air and which is not directed there through a chimney or stack".ADVERTISEMENT "If open burning occurs on any premises, the owner or the occupier of the premises who has control over such premises shall be deemed to have contravened subsection 29A(1) unless the contrary is proved."Per this Act, those caught open-burning could be slapped with a compound of up to RM2,000.
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Should legal action be initiated, the offenders risked having to settle a maximum fine of RM500, 000, serve a maximum jail term of five years or both.The Department's action was prompted by a complaint from a Kg Sungai Karang rate-payer about the nuisance created by the pollution from the dumpsite.The individual maintained that wisps of smoke could still be seen coming from the landfill, a month after a fire broke out there.YONG, who lives about a few hundred metres away from the landfill, decried the nuisance created by the smoke wafting over from the dumping ground."We have to put up with the lack of ventilation in our homes as we are forced to keep our doors and windows closed to prevent the smoke from getting inside."This has been going on since May."He said several of his neighbours had developed bad coughs and sore throats which he suspected were a result of inhaling the smoke regularly.The resident commended the Board for trying to extinguish the fires at the dumpsite by throwing soil over the rubbish.Nevertheless, he said these efforts had proven ineffective."The agency needs to come up with some other strategy to deal with this problem once and for all." This matter was forwarded to the Board's administration on June 16.A spokesman for the body said it was monitoring the situation at the landfill."We initially resorted to controlling this problem by piling up earth over those sections of the dumpsite which were burning," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"After becoming aware that smoke was still escaping from the dumpsite, we despatched excavators to turn over the layers of refuse in a bid to minimise this nuisance."In view of this pollution as well as, the nuisance created by the stench and rodents coming from the landfill, he said the Board was considering relocating the dumpsite to a more suitable location.