LITTERBUGS WEAR ‘MONYET’ VESTS AS PUNISHMENT
12 offenders made to pick up rubbish as community service
TWELVE individuals were forced to don green vests with the word Monyet (monkey) emblazoned on them as part of their punishment for dumping garbage in the district.
The sentence, enforced since Jan 1 last year, requires litterbugs, particularly IMM13 document holders, the Pala’u and illegal immigrants, to wear the vests while picking up rubbish in the town area.
Locals and tourists will be issued a compound according to the anti-littering by-laws if they are found guilty of committing the offence.
Semporna has been facing cleanliness issues for a long time due to the attitude of the people, especially foreigners, who often throw rubbish indiscriminately.
District officer Bianus Kontong said 31 people, including a tourist, had been found throwing rubbish in the town area.
“Of the number, 19 paid their compound of between RM30 and RM500 while 12 failed to settle their compounds and were ordered to perform community service while wearing the vest.
“It involves offenders picking up rubbish in the town area for an hour,” he said yesterday.
He said the sentence served as a stern warning to the public not to dump their garbage indiscriminately.
“The solution is to enforce the sentence. It will continue (to be enforced) until Semporna is free of garbage.”
Recently, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, who is Semporna member of parliament, had expressed his dissatisfaction on the cleanliness at the district level, which could impact Semporna as a tourism destination.