RM500 compound for littering from July 1 — SMC chairman

SIBU: Those caught littering will be slapped with a compound of RM500 from July 1 onwards, according to Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King, who yesterday lamented the neverending menace of littering.

“Littering has remained a bad habit here though civic-mindedness, consideration and tolerance were some of the values taught in school ever since the establishment of education system.

“There are still some who do not have the conscience to consider how their behaviours would affect others around them.

“The same law applies to every country in the world, which is no littering. Obviously most of us when we travel to another country, we abide by the rule,” he said when chairing a monthly meeting of the council yesterday.

“But why do we do it in our own country, at our own place which we call home? Why can’t we have the same attitude of not littering here in Sibu?” he added.

He noted that lenient approaches such as anti-littering campaigns in schools, low compound fees, ‘No Plastic Bag’ policy and others seemed to have low impact on the society’s attitude towards littering.

Thus, he added, the council had decided to impose heavier compounds on those found littering.

“CCTVs will be used to identify those litterbugs following the stern punishment.

“With more stringent punishment and aggressive enforcement, we hope that the Sibu that we all love will always have a clean image,” he said.

On another matter, Ti on gs aid with effect from June 1, developers and consultant engineers will be fully responsible for engineering works handed over to the council, adding the council will forward any failure due to work not done according to the approved engineering plan to the Board of Engineers Malaysia and the Ministry of Local Government Housing for further action.