Many unaware of prepaid services: DBKK
Published on: Wednesday, March 08, 2023
By: Sidney Skinner
A City Hall worker loads the bags with stickers into an open truck.
City Hall (DBKK) hopes more homeowners will familiarise themselves with the operation of its prepaid service for the removal of bulky, as well as garden, waste.Since November, the agency has been implementing a system in which oversized items, or bags of cut grass and branches, have to be labelled with stickers so that a truck can be deployed to have this refuse taken away.ADVERTISEMENT
A spokesman for City Hall’s Solid Waste Management Department estimated that – over the past four months – only 30 per cent of its 71,962 residential rate-payers had been availing themselves of the prepaid service.
“We want to create a greater awareness over how large household items, like unwanted pieces of furniture or refrigerators, can be responsibly disposed off,” he said
“The same goes for the refuse generated when you trim the trees and grass in your garden.”
No prepaid stickers had been affixed to the garbage bags outside this house in Tanjung Aru.
The spokesman explained that the prepaid service was introduced with the intention of minimising the likelihood of illegal dumps springing up around housing areas under the agency’s jurisdiction.ADVERTISEMENT
“Anyone found disposing of their rubbish indiscriminately in the common areas risks being served with a compound for as much as RM500.”
He said such action could be taken under the City Hall’s (Anti-Litter) By-Laws 1984.
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In extreme cases, the culprits could wind up in court, according to him.
“If found guilty, they face the possibility of being slapped with a fine for as much as RM10,000.”
Besides encouraging homeowners to be more civic-minded about the way they dispose of their rubbish, the spokesman said the prepaid service was also meant to ease the burden placed on the City’s landfill in some fashion.
When asked about the nature of this “burden”, he declined to elaborate.
“We want to reduce the volume of garbage being taken to this dump site.”
As to how the prepaid service worked, he said an orange sticker should be affixed to each piece of bulky waste which had been discarded, while a green one should be attached to the individual bags of garden waste.
The trimmings should be cut down to a more manageable size prior to being bagged, according to him.
“The homeowner is required to alert us to the type of waste he/ she is getting rid off and specify his/ her address, in such instances.
“The unwanted items, including the bags of garden waste, should then be placed beside their dustbin, outside his/ her gate.
“They should be left in such a manner so that the stickers are visible from the road-side.”
He said City Hall aimed to have this waste removed within a week from the date of the rate-payer’s call
“Two of our trucks will be sent to the homeowner’s area for this purpose.
“It would be impossible for the bulky waste to be loaded into our compactors and to do so with the bags of garden waste would risk compromising the hydraulics of these vehicles.”
Bags of garden waste can be seen on this road shoulder, with the prepaid stickers clearly visible.
The compactors were primarily utilised for the removal of household garbage, including kitchen waste, according to him.
The spokesman said the prepaid stickers could be purchased from the agency’s headquarters on Jalan Tugu and its offices at Center Point Sabah, as well as its counters at the Urban Transformation Centre in Sembulan and the Damai Multipurpose Hall.
The stickers were non-refundable and meant for one-time use only, according to him.
“Those who know about the new system have been buying them up like hot-cakes.
“We just replenished our supply of the stickers last week and are ready to meet the demand from the public.”
The spokesman was responding to the feedback from a Tanjung Aru rate-payer about the delay she experienced in having her garden waste removed, despite having affixed the necessary stickers to the bags this refuse was in.
LOVIE said this garbage was only taken away after a month.
“This was only happened because I phoned City Hall to find out what was going on,” she said.
Lovie provided Hotline with the name of the housing road on which she lived which was forwarded to the agency.
The spokesman said a check of its records revealed that the individual had neglected to inform City Hall when the bags were first placed outside her house.
“We only found out about this refuse when she liaised with us weeks later,” he said.
“Our collectors removed the garbage on the same day that we received her call.”
He said personnel from its Solid Waste Department went to her housing road shortly after being contacted by the media.
“They noted the presence of bagged waste outside several homes in the area but no stickers were spotted on any of these items.
“We urge the respective homeowners to do what needs to be done, per the requirements of our prepaid service, so that these bags can be taken away.”
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