Zainal (in light blue) looking at the ongoing cleaning operation dubbed ‘Ops Cuci’ in Pasir Gudang.
CLOSE to RM140,000 in summonses has been issued to litterbugs in Johor between November last year and February this year.
State housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said compounds were issued to individuals who were caught littering by local council enforcement teams.
“The state government has given the green light for enforcement officers in all 16 local councils to issue on-the-spot summonses of between RM50 and RM250 to individuals.
“The summonses are issued under the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974, and between November 2023 and February 2024, we issued summonses worth RM136,550,” he said when contacted.
The Act states that it is the duty of the owner or occupier to keep the streets clean and a fine will be imposed by the local authority for non-compliance.
He added that the Johor Bersih initiative was not a one-off seasonal programme but conducted every Sunday by all local councils.
“Last year, we collected and disposed of more than 170 tonnes of waste involving 50,000 volunteers under the Johor Bersih clean-up programme.
“As of March this year, we have collected 23 tonnes with the help of 5,390 volunteers,” he said.
SWCorp is targeting to reduce waste sent to landfills by 3% this year through its My Save Food @ Ramadan 2024 campaign.
Johor Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) director Zainal Fitri Ahmad said it had organised a major clean-up operation dubbed “Ops Cuci” since February this year.
“This is one of our ongoing programmes, where we clean up public areas such as day and night markets as well as petty trader areas.
“As of April 8, we have collected more than 162 tonnes of waste and cleaned 86 locations in all 10 districts,” he said.
The agency had also mobilised 42 vehicles, equipment and machinery, such as roll-on roll-off (RoRo) bins, backhoes, waterjets and ultra-whacks (suction trucks), he added.
Zainal added that SWCorp had also worked with local councils to relocate all illegal roadside traders to a suitable place to prevent them from throwing rubbish into the drain.
“This is why we need to use suction trucks to remove waste that has been clogging our drainage systems.
“At the same time, we are also calling on all restaurant owners to ensure that they instal grease traps in their drainage systems and that these are cleaned regularly,” he added.
Zainal also said SWCorp was targeting to reduce the amount of solid waste sent to seven landfills in the state by 3% this year under its My Save Food @ Ramadan 2024 campaign.
“Last year, we collected 51,633 metric tonnes of solid waste, which is a drop of 3.2% from 2022, where we collected 53,382 metric tonnes of solid waste,” he said. — By REMAR NORDIN
