The mountain of construction waste which includes plastic, wooden materials and bricks caught fire on a land belonging to a private developer last month.
OWNERS of vacant land that are not fenced up are fully responsible if the area is turned into an illegal dumpsite, said Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ).
Councillor George Yap has warned owners of such land that they risk getting hefty fines from the local authority. He said this in response to a fire that broke out on Aug 2 on a 1.21ha idle land along Jalan Perindustrian Puchong that was used as a dumpsite for construction waste, including bricks, wooden planks and plastic materials.
It took three days for firefighters to put out the flames and control the smoke.
As a result, the landowner who is a developer, was fined RM25,000 for working on the land without a permit, RM1,000 for open burning and another RM1,000 for disturbance.
Yap said even though the developer did not commit the offence, the summons was issued anyway.
“The developer has said it would fence up the area within three weeks.
“MPSJ has also asked the developer to clear the waste to prevent another fire,” he added.
MPSJ Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Department deputy director Azlina Mat Salim said if the developer does not clear the land, future requests
for development on the land would be put on hold, until the waste is cleared.
Asia Chong, 56, who lived at Glomac Lakeside Residences, said she drives by Jalan Perindustrian Puchong daily and noticed the pile of rubbish rising day by
day.
“I found it odd so I got a friend to help notify the authorities. I started noticing rubbish collecting on the land after Chinese New Year this year,” she said.
She added that when the fire broke out, she could smell the smoke all the way from her house, about 2km away.
Mariam Osman, 70, who lived at Lake Edge, just a short drive from the illegal dumpsite, said enforcement officers were seen in the area previously but they only put up hazard tape at the entrance to the land.
“The culprits do not care about hazard tape. They tear it down and enter the site to dump their waste,” she said.
MPSJ blocked the entrance to the vacant land with concrete barriers while the landowner promised to fence up the area in a month.
On the same day, MPSJ was also notified of a plot of vacant land facing Jalan TMP 1 where construction waste was disposed.
MPSJ will take immediate action to prevent entry into the area and to find out who the land belongs to for further action.
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