KULAI: Discarded cigarette butts were the most common littering offence in Johor during the first five months of this year, following the enforcement of the amended littering law, says the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp).
Its chief executive officer Khalid Mohamed said 1,418 notices had been issued in the state as of May 22, with almost all involving cigarette butt littering.
“About 95% of the offences recorded in the state involved cigarette butt littering,” he told reporters after the ninth series of the Community Service Order (PKM) programme at a recreational park here yesterday.
Overall, he said a total of 7,919 notices for littering offences had been issued nationwide during the same period.
“A total of 5,708 notices, or 62%, were issued to Malaysians, while 2,211 notices, or 38%, involved foreigners in areas under SWCorp enforcement nationwide,” he added.
He added that 15 cases involved offenders aged between 15 and 17.
“The first court case involving the youngest offender, age 17, will be mentioned in Negri Sembilan on June 24,” he said.
So far, Khalid said 158 offenders had completed their community service sentences.
Regarding yesterday’s PKM, Khalid said a total of 18 offenders, aged between 21 and 57, were ordered to carry out cleaning work around the recreational park.
He said the offenders comprised nine local men and a woman, four Indonesian men, two Singaporean men, one Bangladeshi man and one Nepalese man.
“All offenders underwent health screenings to ensure they were physically fit to carry out the community service work,” he said.
Khalid said offenders cleaned Kulai’s public drains, walkways, a mosque and a food court at the recreational park.
Meanwhile, Khalid said SWCorp was working closely with the respective local councils to identify litterbugs through CCTV recordings.
Besides enforcement, he added that SWCorp would continue strengthening public education and field monitoring efforts to cultivate a more responsible cleanliness culture among the public.
The Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 was amended last year and came into force on Jan 1, 2026.
First-time littering offenders face fines of up to RM2,000 and mandatory community service.
