Rubbish piling up at Kobusak property
Published on: Saturday, July 03, 2021
By: Sidney Skinner
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.jpg "Rubbish piling up at Kobusak property")
Some of the piles of rubbish on the land are seen here.
Garbage, including empty boxes and tins are dumped near the houses on the land.
The agency’s action was prompted by concerns about the negative impact the garbage on the property might have on the well-being of those staying nearby. Some rate-payers along Jalan Kendara 1 feared that Aedes mosquitoes might be breeding among the waste. Others had noticed piles of rubbish on the verge beside the land. When it rained, most of this refuse washed into the roadside drains, clogging up these structures, according to them. A homeowner in the area related these misgivings to Hotline in a letter. A copy of his correspondence was forwarded to the Council. The spokesman said a team of Enforcement officers and Health inspectors from the agency went to the land a few days after being contacted by the media. “They noticed mounds of rubbish, including empty tins, plastic containers and Styrofoam boxes, lying about here and there on the grounds,” he said. “They also found rings of soot in many places, which led them to believe that open-burning was taking place here.” He said an inspection was made of the drains both inside and outside the property.
The drain outside the land may be overgrown but it is not clogged with rubbish.
“These structures were not blocked. No Aedes mosquitoes were found to be breeding inside the drains or among the refuse.” He said the Council’s staff had a word with some of the occupants and warned them not to incinerate their waste. The latter were also given pointers on the proper way to get rid of their garbage, according to him. The spokesman said the agency would periodically keep an eye on the goings-on there to determine if the tenants complied with these instructions. “Should the problems persist after this then we will work together with the relevant authorities to deal with the culprits. “However, we will only be able to mobilise a joint-operation of this nature after the MCO is over.” SHANE of Penampang said the land in the Kobusak area was an eye sore because of the litter piling up on the grounds. “Empty drums can been seen here and there,” he said. “Rain-water may be collecting in these receptacles, making them a potential habitat for Aedes mosquitoes.” He said garbage was also being indiscriminately dumped in the common areas outside the property. “The stink of rotting waste occasionally wafts over to our homes. “Because of this, many of us have taken to keeping the doors and windows nearer to the property closed to prevent the stench from getting indoors.” Shane said the garbage woes made him and his neighbours uneasy. “On top of giving visitors a poor impression of the area, the rubbish-problem is sure to have a negative impact on our health. “I hope the local authorities will intervene before the situation gets out of hand and there is a dengue outbreak here.” Meanwhile, City Hall intends to modify the small drain around a bin centre in the Segama area of the City, to reduce the likelihood of leachate finding its way onto the road around this facility.
City Hall plans to modify the small drain around this bin center in Segama.
Leachate is the stinking liquid produced when rubbish rots or is compressed. A spokesman for City Hall’s Engineering Department said it was considering fashioning “some sort of cement barricade or ramp” around the drain. “Hopefully, this will channel the leachate more effectively into the outlet and prevent the smelly fluid from overflowing from the small drain,” he said. “The necessary modifications will be made once we have the necessary funds for the work.” XANDER, who runs a shop in Segama, suspected that the smell nuisance might be due to infrequency with which the area around the bin centre was hosed down. “When it is cleaned, the force of the water used to clean the stretch might have pushed small bits of rubbish into the outlet between the structure and the road,” he said. “The foul liquid may be ponding on the road because the outlet for the drain is blocked.” Xander said potholes had formed in the stretch where the leachate was pooling. “Earlier this year, this damage was repaired but the ponding problem still remains.” A spokesman for City Hall’s Solid Waste Management Department said the agency would try to step up efforts to clean the road around the bin centre. He said its street-cleaning team had been instructed to wash away any traces of leachate left behind near the facility. “These staff have been asked to hose down the area outside the bin centre on a daily basis, he said.”
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