GONE in the morning, back in the evening – this seems to be the routine with several illegal dumpsites that keep reappearing, much to the dismay of concerned residents in several housing areas in Ipoh.

Even with the Ipoh City Council’s plainclothes Anti-Litter Unit on the ground, there seems to be no stopping the litterbugs from doing as they please.

Trader Mohd Sulaiman Mohd Razak, 43, said it is just like a game of “police and robbers” and one that needs a lot of patience.

“Let’s be frank, how many litterbugs do you think the city council can catch? While the enforcers think they are smart, there will always be others outsmarting them,” he said.

“This is never going to end and the city council is only putting itself under more pressure to maintain Ipoh’s cleanest-city status,” he added.

Mohd Sulaiman said the city council needs to come up with something more drastic that will really deter litterbugs.

An illegal dumpsite in Canning Garden that was recengtly cleared of rubbish.

“One way I can think of is to increase the fine, from RM500 to say maybe RM1,000,” he said.

“Community service is also another way – getting the litterbugs to sweep and pick up rubbish from the streets. If that doesn’t work, nothing will,” Mohd Sulaiman said.

MetroPerak previously reported that the city council cleared away over 6,700 tonnes of rubbish from about 16,000 illegal dumpsites around the city last year.

The council also issued 2,405 compounds totalling RM507,400.

Among the many areas where dumpsites keep reappearing are Taman Pari, Taman Merdeka, Taman Chateau, Ipoh Garden South, Puncak Jelapang, and Taman Mewah.

Ipoh City Watch president Prof Dr Richard Ng also feels more serious action needs to be taken against litterbugs.

Ng said the city council needs to step up its enforcement to catch the culprits and send them to court to teach them a lesson.

“Make them do community service to help clean public areas in lieu of fines.

The dumping of rubbish and garden waste is a persistent problem along Pesara Ipoh Satu in Ipoh Garden.

“Wherever possible, the city council should also use the cameras installed in the city to catch those culprits,” he said.

“The city council must also make it mandatory for all shops and households to have a rubbish bin.

“All developers of new housing areas must be made to provide rubbish bins installed securely to prevent theft,” he added.

Ng said the city council should also engage related non-governmental organisations to help promote cleanliness and recycling.

“The city council should involve NGOs such as Ipoh City Watch or Kohijau to assist in educating the public about embracing recycling.

“The city council must also provide more cooperation and incentives to help the NGOs,” he said.

“NGOs and those who constantly provide feedback on illegal dumping should be regarded as partners of the city council and should be recognised so as to encourage more people to inform the city council directly,” he added.

Ng also said the staff at the city council, including the city councillors, need to be more pro-active and treat every complaint as positive feedback.

“These support staff must understand that they are hired to serve the ratepayers and the community to prevent nuisance at public places as stipulated in the Local Government Act 1976

“Section 101 states local councils have to do all things necessary or conducive to public safety, health and conveniences, while Section 73 (1)(a)(ii) requires the local council to keep all public places clean,” he said.

“Section 80 of the same act requires the local authority to take steps to remove, put down and stop or reduce all nuisances of a public nature within the local authority’s area on public and private premises and may proceed at law against any person committing any such nuisances,” he added.

Ng said the city council should not wait until a problem is reported to the press or for the mentri besar to go around highlighting it for action to be taken.

“More also needs to be done to instil a habit and culture of keeping the environment clean in the minds of people.

“They need to that a mindset that cleanliness is not just the responsibility of the government or city council, but everyone’s,” he said.

A former teacher, who only wanted to be known as Chin, 82, said the city councillors should be more pro-active in their zones to check for illegal dumpsites or other issues.

“They have been appointed to take care of their zones, so I think they really should do so regularly.

“They should not wait until someone makes a complaint to the city council or to the press,” he said, adding that there are always several illegal dumpsites near his house in Puncak Jelapang.

“If they are unable to do so, hire help to do it and report back to the councillor ,” he added.

Chin also feels that a proder rubbish disposal facility should be created at regular illegal dumpsite to encourage people to no dump rubbish by the side of roads.

“I think the city council should spend some money, collected from ratepayers, for this. These facilities should be properly built so they can’t easily be damaged,” he said.

Chin said he is disappointed with the mentality of the litterbugs, who chose to discard their waste indiscriminately.

“I just don’t understand why can’t they choose to throw their rubbishinto proper bins,” he said.