Shafie (second left) visiting the Semporna fish market after launching the Sabah Rubbish Free program on Sunday.
SEMPORNA: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal wanted the contractors in charge of cleaning services in all district councils in the state to be reviewed.
He said a study need to be carried out to see whether the contractors that were appointed by the previous government delivered their jobs as stipulated in the agreement.
In a New Malaysia, he said services were created not for the interest of contractors or any political entity, instead they were to safeguard the people’s wellbeing.
“It’s about time for us to make some changes including to provide the best in health services and education,” he said after visiting the Semporna Hospital yesterday.
Shafie added District Officers should take action against clearning companies appointed by the former government if they failed to perform their duties.
“It is not necessary to appoint them as rubbish cleaners if they only collect money or make claim without making the area clean.
“It is meaningless to pay them if the districts are not clean,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Sabah government has given serious attention to the level of cleanliness in all districts in the state with the launch of the Litter Free Sabah programme by the Chief Minister yesterday.
Semporna was selected as pioneer district to implement the programme due to Shafie’s dissatisfaction with the district’s level of cleanliness.
“At the moment we can see rubbish everywhere, either on land or in the sea, and it’s the responsibility of the local population to address the cleanliness level in the district,” he said in his speech.
“As a district blessed with beautiful nature and marine tourism attraction, the communities in Semporna must play important role to stop throwing rubbish everywhere including in their own villages.
“I want Semporna to be known as a famous destination with many tourism attractions and not as dirty district,” he said.
According to him, Semporna in the 60s had very clean sea and environment unlike now which is littered with trash.
He said the programme would be extended to other districts to ensure the cleanliness level did not pose negative effects on tourism sector.
He also wanted the Semporna district council to be restructured and to put cleanliness as its key performance index that would be monitored by district officer Blanus Kontong.
“Garbage is the cause of disease outbreak. To prevent it, hygienic campaign should be carried out to educate the public to dispose of waste at allocated places.
“Hygiene also guarantees food is not contaminated. If food is dirty, tourists will not eat and this affects the livelihood of the locals,” he said.
In his speech, Shafie also insisted that all public toilets, including food premises and airports, should always be clean and odorless.
“Our turtles died after eating rubbish, local people have to be responsible … our problem is that our people are not responsible.
“Fish are bombed and poisoned … they are detrimental to health when consumed,” he said.
Also present was Deputy Home Minister Datuk Azis Jamman.