Enforcement personnel load fruits confiscated from unlicensed sellers after they fled their trading posts during the joint operation.
MIRI: Miri City Council (MCC) has a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for carrying out enforcement work.
This was revealed in a press release issued by MCC yesterday.
In addition to that, it has an auditing system to record and check for abuse of procedures.
The council said its press statement was to dispel several ‘baseless allegations’ on social media criticising it for acting against unlicensed seasonal fruit sellers throughout the city.
On Wednesday, the council conducted a joint enforcement operation with the Immigration Department at Tamu Muhibbah, which saw a total of 13 compound notices issued.
The operation was in response to public complaints about traffic obstruction caused by unlicensed seasonal fruit sellers.
These unlicensed fruit sellers were said to have occupied the parking lots in the market with some of them taking up spaces at the roadside of the market and obstructing traffic.
The council was also tipped off by the public claiming that foreigners were selling fruits in the same market.
Apart from issuing compound notices, three cases were subjected to confiscation after the owners fled from their trading posts during the enforcement operation.
Enforcement personnel from Immigration Department have also detained four foreign traders in the same operation.
On the confiscated items, the council said it had to record them before bringing them to its enforcement depot where the owners can claim them two weeks from the date of seizure.
For fresh items of vegetables and fruits such as durians, rambutans and dabai, owners can claim them within 24 hours once they have settled the impound and compound fees.
After the grace period, unclaimed items would be disposed of at the council’s dumping ground with records supported by photographs taken before disposal, and where the items have been disposed of in accordance with their SOP.
After the operation on Wednesday, only one owner came forward to claim confiscated items from enforcement, MCC divulged in its press statement.
Meanwhile, items belonging to foreign traders are kept by the Immigration authority for the time being.