Ipoh City Council (MBI) performed an operation to clean up an illegal dumping ground located next to the Gelombang flats at Taman Rasi, Menglembu today on June 10.
Ipoh mayor, Dato Rumaizi Baharin was present to monitor the clean-up. He lamented that a fraction of the community has created dumping grounds at certain areas and roadsides despite warning signs set up by MBI.
“Their ignorance invites trouble to nearby residents,” he said. “Most trash consists of food and beverage leftovers, which causes odours and attracts disease-causing pests like mice and flies.
“Even worse, this rubbish is often discarded with boxes and water-containing agents that encourage breeding of Aedes larvae,” Rumaizi added, citing that as a cause for the alarming spike of dengue fever cases in Ipoh.
“This situation not only pollutes our surroundings, but also wastes taxpayers’ money that could have been used for development purposes in the city,” he further bemoaned.
“Our community needs to work with the council to prevent illegal dumping from becoming worse,” Rumaizi stressed. “Every Ipohite holds the responsibility of not simply discarding trash. Maintaining the town’s cleanliness is key to comfort, health and safety of everyone.”
He also warned the public that the MBI’s Anti-Litter Unit spies on those who discard trash illegally. Whoever is found guilty will be fined RM1,000.
According to a statement, from January 1 to May 31 this year, 1,672 illegal dumping grounds had been identified, with trash amounting to a whopping 12,210 tonnes.
In a similar development, 832 cases of dengue fever had been reported at areas administered by MBI, which is an increase of 232.8 percent equivalent to 582 more cases compared to only 250 cases in 2019. Up to June 6, one death due to dengue was recorded.
33 localities were found to be breeding Aedes larvae, which are at Taman Klebang Jaya (25 cases), RPT Chepor (52), Kampung Simee (15), Cherry Apartment at Silibin (11), Pasir Pinji (21), Kampung Cempaka Sari (8), Kampung Sungai Tapah Tambahan (15) and 26 more unspecified localities.
Chris Teh
Has anybody asked why illegal dumping occurs? Could it be that there are just not enough dumpsters around and where provided these dumpsters are not emptied often enough? If more dumpsters had been provided for the 12,210 tonnes of trash and emptied regularly during that 5 month period I believe the 1,672 illegal dumping grounds would not have existed. If that is where the fault lies then the blame shifting should stop and instead action be taken to remedy the situation.
How about checking the long year of complaints of Denggi infested area right behind Lebuh Sg Senam which is a breeding ground for Mosquitoes 🤷♂️🤷♂️