Campaign to reproach litterbugs to keep country clean

KUALA LUMPUR: The Housing and Local Government Ministry will hold a campaign to encourage people to rebuke litterbugs or those who have no care for cleanliness.

Its minister, Zuraida Kamaruddin, said encouraging this habit of reproaching in society would help in building a clean environment.

“I’ll launch a campaign ‘Saya Berani Menegur’ so that Malaysians are not afraid to reproach and those being reproached will not be angry.

“We want to ensure the country is clean and to improve Malaysia’s image as a progressive nation, as cleanliness is important,” she told reporters after launching the Little River Festival 2019 here yesterday.

She said maintaining cleanliness could be a culture in Malaysia if at least 10 per cent of its population are not afraid to tell off those who litter.

“We cannot rely on enforcement officers alone; it will not succeed. We will consolidate all nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and make sure it will not be just a ‘touch and go’ programme,” she said.

In another development, Zuraida said the ministry would assist the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) on the standard operating procedures (SOP) for maintenance of lifts, especially at Hardcore Poor Housing Projects (PPRT).

“The SOP for lift maintenance is under Human Resource; it is not under the Housing Ministry. But I will look into how we can help monitor it,” she added.

She was commenting on an incident on Friday where a lift at the Kampung Kerinchi PPR here with nine people, including a child, came crashing down from the fifth floor to the ground floor. Eight of them were injured in the incident.