Communal bin for Guunsing likely
Published on: Wednesday, March 31, 2021
By: Sidney Skinner
The village chief (centre) having a word with an occupant of a home in the area, while the council’s staff look on.
The District Council will consider having a communal bin placed in Kg Guunsing to cater for the domestic waste from homes in the area.A Council spokesman said this would be done if additional households registered to have a collection service extended to the village.
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“Only a few households are, at present, paying to have their garbage removed by our workers,” he said.
“The village chief (VC) has obtained an application form for collection and is in the process of getting those in the village, who have not already done so, to sign up.”
He said each family would have to pay a monthly fee of RM20 to receive this service.
The spokesman said the VC had been advised to write in for a communal bin after the Council had been remunerated for collection.
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“The letter should include suggestions for prospective locations where the bin might be placed.”
He said the agency would earmark a suitable site for the receptacle together with the VC.
The remnants of open-burning activities were noted near the occupant’s home.
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“Once a formal request has been lodged, we will arrange for a joint-inspection of the common areas around the village.
“The bin will have to be placed on a road reserve which is both close to the homes seeking our service and, more importantly accessible to our compactors.”
He was responding to a Penampang rate-payer’s observations that rubbish was being burnt openly at several homes in Kg Guunsing, where foreigners were staying.
The resident was under the impression that these individuals were taking “the easy way out” to get rid of their garbage because of the lack of a collection service there.
The spokesman said a check of the village was carried out in the fourth week of March, shortly after the Council was informed about this problem.
“Our inspectors noted that rubbish was indeed being burnt by some residents,” he said.
“The VC was made aware of these findings. She immediately had a word with the occupants of those homes beside which the charred remnants had been found.”
He said the Council had enlisted her help to discourage those staying in the area from incinerating their waste.
“In the meantime, we will try to do our part by setting up a proper disposal system here.”
AMOS, who lives in Kg Guunsing, said a smell like ‘burnt plastic’ was evident in the air near his home at night.
“The stench can sometimes be detected as early as 10pm and lingers till as late as 1am,” he said.
He said this has been going on for some time.
“I shared my observations with one of my neighbours, who told me that she too was not happy about the rampant open-burning here,” she said.
“She said the incineration took place either late in the day or at night.”
He said many of the residents were forced to keep their doors and windows closed to minimise the nuisance caused by the smoke.
Amos said he had taken to drying his laundry indoors to prevent his clothes from being soiled by the smoke.
“Several of my neighbours have developed bad coughs and sore throats which I suspect might be a result of inhaling the fumes from the smoke regularly.
“At times, the situation gets so bad that our eyes begin to water even when we are indoors.”
His grievance was also forwarded to the Department of the Environment (DOE).
A DOE spokeswoman said the agency’s staff, together with their peers from the Health Department, went to the village a few days after being alerted to this problem.
“They had a word with the VC about the open-burning taking place in the village,” she said.
“Per our advice, she issued a notice, asking the public to cease any incineration activities for the benefit of the elderly, young and asthma sufferers among the community.”
Rubbish, including plastic, being burnt by foreigners behind a home in Kg Guunsing because the Council has not provided any communal bins for them.
She said a flyer from the DOE was attached to the document.
“The notice was circulated not only in Kg Guunsing, but also in Kg Novunsu, Kg Suok and Kg Kodundungan.”
The spokeswoman warned that those caught open-burning risked having to pay a compound of up to RM2,000.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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