Tuesday, July 26, 2016
By Olivia Miwil and Ensol Langgayat
Filthy: 500 people clear 67 tonnes of rubbish
KOTA KINABALU: More than 67 tonnes of rubbish
was cleared in a massive clean-up at Kampung Sembulan Tengah, near here, over
the weekend.
About 500 volunteers, armed with rakes,
garbage bags and gamboots, plunged knee-deep into the rubbish-choked swamp area
surrounded by stilt houses to clean up the place.
Five residents were charged with wrongful
disposal of rubbish under the Kota Kinabalu City Hall Anti-Litter By Law 2005
in the Environmental Court yesterday.
If convicted, they could be fined up to
RM10,000.
All pleaded guilty.
Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad reserved her
sentencing to Aug 1, after following the five to clean up the rubbish
surrounding their homes. Ainul also visited their homes.
The gotong-royong, coordinated by the Sabah
Judiciary and City Hall, saw more than 500 volunteers from 46 government
agencies, private corporations and non-governmental organisations taking part
in the clean up on Saturday.
It was mooted by Sabah and Sarawak Chief
Judge Tan Sri Richard Malanjum to create awareness of laws that penalise people
who failed to clean up their surroundings through the Environmental Court.
Present were Assistant Minister to the Chief
Minister Datuk Edward Yong Oui Fah, Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Arifin
Zakaria and Mayor Datuk Yeo Boon Hai.
Sembulan Tengah village chief Yunus Gintang
said though the exercise was not the first time, it was more successful than
others.
“People here lack awareness on the importance
of hygiene,” he said of the area which was full of drift wood, plastic,
bottles, rags, food waste and faeces because of the lack of a proper sewage
system.
Yunus said there were 70 houses in the
village.
He said 70 per cent of the residents were
foreigners.
Yong said the dirty surroundings also exposed
villagers to health risks and pointed out fatal diseases, such as dengue,
cholera and leptospirosis had occurred in the past.
Friday, July 29, 2016
By Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: A water village with rubbish
piling up in its vicinity has been described as a health hazard.
Kampung Sembulan Tengah came under the
spotlight recently when City Hall cleared 67 tonnes of rubbish from the area.
The authorities are considering declaring the
village, which is mostly occupied by immigrants, as unsafe.
Dr Timothy William, an infectious disease
physician, said the stagnant water, sewage and dirty environment put the public
at risk of contracting diseases.
“Among them include infections such as
typhoid, cholera, and leptospirosis as well as other food-and-water-borne
diseases.
“Aedes mosquitoes, the vector that spreads
dengue, can also breed in the discarded containers that contain fresh water,”
he said, adding that action needs to be taken promptly to solve the
environmental problem and prevent the outbreak of diseases.
District health officer Dr Jiloris Dony said
the village had been identified as a dengue hotspot in recent years.
“Mosquitoes, which can fly within a 200m
radius from Sembulan area, are affecting people in the surrounding areas.
“Those who have recovered from dengue fever
may get more severe symptoms if they contracted new strains of the dengue
virus,” said Dr Jiloris.
Dr Jiloris said inspection by the state
health department at the village showed that its water supply might not be safe
as its piping system was submerged in the contaminated water.
Read more: Shame liiterbugs for a cleaner nation.
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