THE Penampang Municipal Council has removed the debris left behind in Taman Sahabat when the neighbourhood was last hit by flash floods and will make periodic inspections of the residential property to ensure that illegal garbage dumps do not spring up on the verges here.
Several areas around the municipality were inundated with run off during the intense downpours at the end of June.
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Many of the agency’s compactors were left water-logged as a result of these heavy rains, contributing, for a time, to a breakdown of the garbage collection in Kg Novunsu.
The concessionaire’s workers put their back into cleaning the front yard drains in the housing area.
The Council’s Urban Services Division (USD) has been keeping an eye on the goings-on in this part of Penampang since then to ensure that the rubbish in the village is removed regularly.
This action was prompted by feedback from two rate-payers about the piles of garbage at both locations. The agency was informed about their separate grouses.
A Council spokesman said six USD workers cleared the refuse lying about in the common areas in Taman Sahabat earlier this month.
He said one of its open trucks was deployed to facilitate this work which was rendered on “a humanitarian basis”.
“Unlike household garbage which is removed on alternative days, we do not have a fixed schedule when it comes to taking away non-domestic items,” he said.
“Bulk-waste is cleared as and when it becomes necessary to do so, depending on whether we receive a request for such assistance.”
He said ratepayers, wanting to dispose of bulk items, were required to make a written request to the agency.
“Where renovation debris is concerned, the onus is on the rate-payer who is renovating his/ her premises to transport this refuse to the Kayu Madang dumpsite. He/she should engage a private contractor to do this on their behalf.”
An Enforcement staff takes stock of the rubbish strewn on the common areas around Taman Sahabat.
During a preliminary check of Taman Sahabat, the spokesman said, USD personnel observed that some of the roadside drains, in the vicinity of where the flood debris was strewn, were clogged with water hyacinths
He said the concessionaire was apprised of these observations and urged to take the necessary action.
“Maintenance of the front yard drains around the municipality falls under the company’s purview, while the Council is responsible for looking after those outside the back yard.”
He said a group of the firm’s workers was subsequently sent to Taman Sahabat.
"They used rakes to clear the weeds from the affected drains and later had them desludged. We have called on the concessionaire to step up its efforts to attend to these structures.”
Prior to having the flood debris removed, he said the Council’s Enforcement officers had gone round the housing area to verify where this rubbish had come from.
“Some quarters had been under the impression that illegal garbage dumps may have formed in the neighbourhood.
“Our Enforcement met with the occupants of several homes, who told them that this rubbish had not been thrown on the verge. The refuse had been carried there by flood waters.”
He warned the public in Penampang that it was an offence to dispose of one’s waste haphazardly in the common areas around the municipality, under the Uniform (Anti-Litter) By-Laws 2010.
The agency’s personnel went round the neighbourhood to ask rate-payers about the garbage on the verge.
“Anyone caught red-handed can be compounded up to RM500. Our Enforcement officers have been asked to keep their eyes peeled for such litterbugs.”
Where the garbage woes in Kg Novunsu were concerned, the spokesman said an open truck was deployed to the village on the same day that the Council was contacted by the media.
“We were made to understand, at that stage, that the bins had not been emptied for close to three weeks. USD workers cleared all rubbish as soon as this came to our knowledge.
“The Council’s administration is monitoring the progress of the collection in Kg Novunsu in a bid to try and minimise any undue inconvenience caused to our rate-payers here.”
