HPUC DISAPPOINTED WITH LITTERBUGS

JKR heavy machinery dredging seaside at Sim Sim, Sandakan

SANDAKAN: The Sandakan Municipal Council’s Highway and Public Utilities Committee (HPUC) is disappointment by the attitude of certain segments of society for their bad habit of littering.

The Head of HPUC, Taren Sunil Manoharan, expressed his disgust when witnessing the clearing of clogged drains at Jalan Sim Sim,yesterday.

“We are happy that the Public Works Department (JKR) is putting in so much effort to help dredge the drains as well as the seaside at the Sim Sim area. However, by the amount of trash we saw, it is obvious that there are certain segments of society who do not care a hoot about the environment,” said Taren Sunil.

He pointed out that since their last visit to the area, the state of affairs seemed to have even deteriorated with more rubbish of every kind dumped into the drains and surrounding areas. The seaside was also not spared.

“Even while our anti-littering campaign is still ongoing, there are still litter-bugs (kutu sampah) who couldn’t care a bit about helping to keep Sandakan clean,” said Taren Sunil.

“That kind of non-civic behaviour is costing the Sandakan Municipal Council, the Public Works Department and other relevant authorities a lot of time and money. I appeal to these irresponsible people to change their attitude. Just don’t dump rubbish anywhere you like,” he pleaded.

Taren also pointed out that the Sim Sim area is fast becoming a tourist area where there are already several well-known seafood restaurants.

“It certainly would not look good if tourists have to walk past unsightly heaps of rubbish floating along the seaside on their way to having a meal,” he elaborated.

He stressed that the authorities can only do so much with their limited manpower and funding. The rest would be up to the residents themselves to be more pro-active in keeping the environment clean.

“While the vast majority of residents are doing their part in keeping Sandakan clean, we need to persuade the very small but stubborn minority of irresponsible litterbugs to change their attitude,” he concluded.