KULAI: A total of 7,919 notices for littering offences have been issued nationwide within the first five months so far this year, says Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp) chief executive officer Khalid Mohamed.
He said the notices involved 5,708 (62%) locals and 2,211 (38%) foreigners across the states under SWCorp enforcement areas.
“In Johor alone, 1,418 notices have been issued as of Friday (May 22).
“About 95% of the offences recorded in the state involved littering of cigarette butts,” he told reporters after the ninth series of the Community Service Order programme at a recreation park in Kulai on Saturday (May 23).
Khalid said the programme involved 18 offenders in Johor, aged 21 to 57, who carried out cleaning works at the recreational park.
He said the offenders comprised 10 Malaysians, including a woman, four Indonesian men, two Singaporean men, one Bangladeshi man and one Nepalese man.
“The offenders were ordered by the court to carry out community service under the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 for offences involving littering small waste items in public areas.
“All offenders also underwent health screenings to ensure they were physically fit to carry out the community service work,” he said.
Khalid said the cleaning works involved public drains, walkways, a mosque and a food court around the park, which had been identified as one of the littering hotspots in Kulai.
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He also added that there were 15 cases nationwide involving underage offenders aged 10 to 17.
He said the first court case involving a 17-year-old offender in Negri Sembilan would be mentioned on June 24.
Khalid added that 158 offenders nationwide had completed their community service sentence so far.
He said that SWCorp is working closely with local councils to identify litterbugs through closed-circuit camera (CCTV) recordings.
“We are cooperating with local authorities to use their CCTV systems to identify offenders who litter in public places,” he said.
Khalid added that SWCorp would continue to strengthen enforcement, public education, and field monitoring efforts to cultivate a more responsible cleanliness culture among the public.
