Container owner in Lido risks RM10,000 penalty
Published on: Friday, August 09, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
An Enforcement officer stuck a notice to the body of the container on Lorong Beruang 1 last month.
THE owner of a container in the Lido area and a rate-payer in Kolombong separately risk having to settle a fine of up to RM10,000 for turning part of the common area at these locations into an unauthorised store.
A spokesman for City Hall’s Enforcement Department said such action could be taken under its (Anti-litter) Bylaws 1984 (Amendment 2005), if the pair were found guilty in court.
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The container has been sitting on a verge in Taman Tanah Emas for more than a year, while an assortment of junk – including stacks of rusty scaffolding, a plastic water tank, an unwanted kennel and various pieces of building material – has been strewn at a cul-de-sac in Taman Seri Borneo for months.
On top of paying the fine, the spokesman said the owners of these items would have to shoulder the costs incurred by City Hall to remove their belongings.
Packets of tom-yam paste were found inside the container by City Hall’s Health inspectors.
“We will not be held responsible for any of their belongings which are damaged or misplaced during the process to shift or impound these items,” he said.
“The owner of the container was formally informed about the possible legal consequences and asked to relocate the structure to his/ her premises.
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“He/ she was given a grace-period to comply with our instructions.”
A notice to this affect was affixed to the body of the container last month, according to him. He said a check of the agency’s records showed that this was the second time which its Enforcement officers had done this.
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“The owner was first notified about his/ her container in August last year.
“Seeing as how both our requests have so far fallen on deaf ears, we are presently trying to work out the logistics on how best to move the container away.”
One strategy which the Department was toying with was the possibility of hiring a private crane operator to perform this task, the spokesman explained.
Personnel from the agency’s Environmental Health and Solid Waste Management Departments made their own checks of the container on Lorong Beruang 1 in July.
The former were verifying concerns that Aedes mosquitoes might be breeding in the rainwater which may have pooled inside the structure. Some Taman Tanah Emas residents feared that this might trigger a dengue outbreak in the neighbourhood.
Their peers from the Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD), on the other hand, were called in to deal with an illegal garbage dump which had formed on one side of the container.
Enforcement staff confirmed the presence of the various items strewn at the dead-end on Lorong Seri Borneo 7.
A spokeswoman for the Environmental Health Department said no mosquitoes or pools of water were found on the interior or exterior of the structure during the inspection
“The two inspectors, who went down, did, however, find packets of tom yam paste strewn about inside,” she said.
“They later spoke to some homeowners in the vicinity about the container and its contents. Our staff were made to understand that the former operator of the eatery in the area had been using the structure to store his/ her wares.”
A SWMD spokesman said its personnel found a pile of rubbish on one side of the container during their inspection.
“This refuse was cleared on the spot,” he said. “We are working together with our colleagues from the Enforcement Department (ED) to tackle the problems related to the container.”
Where the cul-de-sac in Taman Seri Borneo was concerned, the ED spokesman said its officers went to the neighbourhood on Wednesday.
“They noted the presence of the various items lined up against the fence at the dead-end on Lorong Seri Borneo 7,” he said. “After asking around, our staff managed to identify the owner of these objects.”
He said the homeowner in question was asked to shift his/ her belongings into his/ her compound.
“The individual was verbally warned against misusing the common area near his/ her premises in this manner and briefed on the legal action which he/ she could face if the problem recurred.”
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