KOTA KINABALU: Mayor Datuk Yeo Boon Hai has urged the people to stop treating the sea as a rubbish bin or risk facing court action being taken against them.
He stressed that the people must have the heart to care for the environment and to stop wantonly disposing litter into the sea, which is the main tourism complaint received by the state thus far.
“We must not give up as the road to environmental cleanliness is a long journey. If we look at the sea shores, the Inanam and Likas rivers, there are many of our people who live there and dispose rubbish into the sea because they consider it as a rubbish bin,” said Yeo, when handing over the litter free office recognition to Sediafat Sdn Bhd at Metrotown here yesterday.
“I humbly plead and urge them to together keep the environment clean as disposing litter into the river will bring it to the sea and impact negatively on our ecosystem.
“In the end, it is also our people who will receive unwanted risks, especially those fishermen living by the seaside. They should understand that the situation has changed and we cannot think the sea as a rubbish bin. I hope they will realize that now,” he added.
The mayor reiterated that City Hall (DBKK) will put the fate of those found littering in the city in the hands of the court, where the punishment between welfare work and a hefty compound awaits the guilty parties.
However, Yeo emphasized that enforcement must be implemented with compassion and humanity besides initiatives on continual efforts to raise awareness among the city folks.
“If we are too stiff in using the law to punish them, I feel that is not a solution,” he said.
“But we have a three-prong strategy, Firstly, we will go to relevant areas to further raise the awareness level. Secondly, we will provide places for them to dispose trash in the city, and, thirdly, we will resort to issuing a compound.
“I have been made to understand that City Hall has experienced, in situations where we want to bring a concerned person to court such as in Sembulan, their excuse is that they are working and therefore cannot do the welfare work. So if the excuse is valid, we will then issue the compound,” he explained.
Sediafat yesterday received the first litter-free office stamp from DBKK in 2017.
Yeo said the Sediafat’s litter-free office certification was another step towards DBKK’s struggle to transform the city into a clean, green and liveable place.
“Sediafat Sdn Bhd is the 21st litter-free office after the police station offices, which has successfully gotten the recognition,” said Yeo during the certification handing over ceremony at Sediafat office.
“With this, there are 21 offices in the Kota Kinabalu City area that have received the litter-free office recognition.
“The overall total of litter-free premises has reached 153 since the Anti-Litter Bug Campaign was launched in 2008. Meanwhile, the overall total so far for participation in the Plastic Bag Usage Reduction Campaign is 378,” he added.
Yeo reiterated DBKK’s Anti-Litter Bug Campaign is ultimately geared towards transforming Kota Kinabalu into a litter-free city, and support from all, such as Sediafat’s is key to it becoming true.
“Besides supporting the Anti-Litter Bug Campaign, I have been made to understand the company is also active in a few other environmental programs. The company has cooperated with a few government hospitals, including Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in the implementation of 3R Awareness Campaign through the organization of talks, demonstration of making candles out of used cooking oil and kitchen waste compost,” said the mayor.
“This Sediafat office branch also practises the isolation of recyclable materials and in line with its 3R practice, which is Reduce, Reuse and Recycle,” he revealed about the 5S certified company.
Sediafat chief executive officer Datuk Awang Buhtamam Awang Mahmun said the company rose to meet the challenge of becoming a litter-free office as another small contribution towards DBKK’s ultimate goal.
“I hope Sediafat’s and DBKK’s common views and thoughts will make Kota Kinabalu a city that is clean, peaceful and cheerful,” said Buhtamam, adding that the company’s Hospital Support Services (HSS) concession commenced on April 1, 2015 for 26 hospitals in Sabah and Labuan.
The company, which has more than 1,000 permanent and around 1,200 contractual staff, provides six main services to government hospitals, namely Facility Management Services (FMS), Facility Engineering Maintenance Services (FEMS), Bio-Medical Engineering Maintenance Services (BEMS), Healthcare Waste Management Services (HWMS), Cleansing Services (CLS) and Linen and Laundry Services (LLS).
“With Sediafat’s 26 locations, maybe it is not too much for me to suggest for a formal DBKK-Sediafat collaboration for a cleanliness and anti-litterbug campaign,” said the CEO.
“If DBKK accepts, maybe we can suggest for a memorandum of understanding and such,” he added.
DBKK Cleanliness and Environmental Health Department director Robert Lipon, Sediafat executive director Awang Roozan Mohd Nadzir and Sediafat Board of Director member Awang Ramlan Awang Mahmud were also at the ceremony.