More issues exposed at SEDCO industrial estate
SANDAKAN: A follow-up visit by the Sandakan Municipal Council’s Highway and Public Utilities Committee (HPUC) has exposed more problems that needed attention at the SEDCO Industrial Estate area at Mile 3 in Sandakan.
“After our last visit, the place was given a good cleaning and clearing of trash. However, our latest visit has again exposed more issues with sloppy garbage disposal and clogged drains,” said Taren Sunil, head of HPUC.
Pointing to drains full of plastic bottles and other rubbish, Taren Sunil and HPUC members expressed disappointment that all the advice and persuasion asking the public to help keep Sandakan clean seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
“As we have mentioned countless times, there is no way that council workers can cope with the cleanup job when there are people who just treat public places as an open dustbin. SMC has limited manpower and the workers have so many other things to do,” he said.
During this second visit, the HPUC members took note of a vandalized fire hydrant with a metal cover missing. Someone had also dug some sort of an open trench which now has a lot of rubbish thrown into it.
The water has become stagnant. Apparently the culvert has also been blocked.
There was an immediate cleanup job done at the area where dustbins were located as well as its surroundings.
“That area was cleaned up but very much more needed to be done to make the entire industrial estate at least reasonably clean,” Taren Sunil pointed out, adding that all the clearing and cleaning will take time and a lot of manpower.
“HPUC will do our best but I really hope we can convince people to help maintain the cleanliness of the place. Otherwise they are the ones who will face the unpleasant consequences of working in a dirty and smelly environment,” he added.