Crackdown on litterbugs to continue in KK city, says Mayor

KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) has issued 1,105 compound notices to litterbugs so far this year.

DBKK Mayor Datuk Noorliza Awang Alip said the notices, issued between Jan 1 and June 30, were served on the spot under Op Degil to those caught discarding rubbish indiscriminately.

She said Op Degil was carried out every day with the aim of raising the awareness level among the people over cleanliness as well as being meant to teach a lesson to individuals who dirty up the city.

"DBKK will issue two types of penalties to litterbugs namely the compound on the spot (COS) and summon on the spot (SOS).

"Under the Kota Kinabalu (Anti-litter) By-laws 1984, offenders will be given an option whether to pay the COS immediately which could range from not less than RM30 and not more than RM500, according to the type and quantity of rubbish discarded.

"They (offenders) can also choose to appear in court (to settle) the SOS," she said in a statement on Wednesday (July 13).

Noorliza added that there would be enforcement officers everywhere within the city limits to monitor the public, especially at public areas and parks.

She said Op Degil was targeted at individuals or companies that deliberately discard trash in public areas as well as other offences such as discarding of cigarette butts, paper items, bottles and food containers, among others.

If found guilty, she said, an offender could be fined a maximum RM10,000 or face three years in jail or sentenced to community work for four hours a day within a period of not more than three months.

Noorliza also said 691 people had been brought to court for offences committed against the city’s by-laws on cleanliness between 2016 and 2022.