JOHOR BARU: Following his conviction under the new anti-littering law, a 52-year-old contractor has now made it a point to remind the public not to repeat his mistake.
The man, who wished to be known only as Tan, pleaded guilty to throwing a cigarette butt early last month.
Following his guilty plea, he was sentenced to six hours of community service and slapped with a RM500 fine.
“I knew about the new law, but I did not expect to be among those caught red-handed.
“I threw a cigarette butt on the ground before getting into my car.
“Just as I was about to start the engine, an enforcement officer knocked on my window.
“He pointed to the cigarette butt, and that was when I realised I was in trouble,” Tan said while sweeping the street to fulfil his court-ordered community service in Stulang Laut yesterday.
He was among the first batch of offenders who were charged under Section 77A of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007.
“Since then, I have been reminding my friends not to throw rubbish on the road,” said Tan.
Anita, 49, from Indonesia, was caught throwing a water bottle less than an hour after the new ruling was implemented on Jan 1.
“It was right after the New Year celebration. My friends and I were hanging out at the bus stop around Jalan Ibrahim.
“We brought some food and drinks. As we were about to leave, I left a plastic water bottle there.
“As I was getting into an e-hailing car, an officer stopped me and pointed at the bottle,” she said, adding that she was not aware of the new ruling at the time.
Anita, who has been in Johor for over 15 years, was also sentenced to six hours of community service and fined RM500.
“We shouldn’t normalise littering. Even if you have trash on you, just keep it in your pocket until you find a rubbish bin,” she said.
Johor health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said they were among 89 people who had been caught littering following the implementation of the new ruling.
“Five have been charged in court and have begun carrying out their community service.
“Investigations are still ongoing for the remaining offenders. We expect them to be charged within the next six months.”
Ling added that 52 offenders were Malaysian and 37 were foreigners, including those from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Singapore.
