Tourists, foreigners aren't exempt from littering fines, says JB mayor

JOHOR BARU: Foreigners and tourists are not exempt from the no-littering rule that is currently being enforced by the Johor government in efforts to clean up the state.

Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) mayor Datuk Mohd Noorazam Osman said a total of 62 compounds - with a maximum fine of RM500 - were handed out to individuals and premises found littering in the city last week.

He said that this includes Singaporeans who had just gotten out of the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar customs, immigration and quarantine complex, business owners and foreign workers who live at shophouses in the city centre.

Mohd Noorazam said that this is in addition to MBJB’s 'plogging' (picking up litter while jogging) and other cleaning activities.

He added that enforcement will be beefed up in the city to catch litterbugs.

"Whether it is enforcement officials in uniform or plainclothes, we will continue monitoring the situation to find and fine those littering red-handed under the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974," he told the media after launching the Sustainability Corner exhibition at the Sultan Ismail Library here on Tuesday (Feb 14).

He added that action could be taken under the Local Government Act 1976 and MBJB Anti-Littering Bylaw 2004.

On Feb 5, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said anyone found littering in public places would be fined as part of the state government's initiative to beef up its enforcement of environmental cleanliness under the Johor Bersih initiative.

He said that although the state government introduced the Johor Bersih initiative last year, the level of awareness among the public was still low.