MPSP issues notices to Bagan ratepayers who failed to separate waste

BUTTERWORTH: Ratepayers in Bagan here are worried after receiving notices from the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) for failing to separate their waste.

Bagan MCA Youth chief Dickson Seow said many have expressed their concerns to him after receiving notices they violated Rule 25 of the MPSP bylaws which carries a maximum RM2,000 fine or a year in jail.

He said many of them were senior citizens who were unaware of how to go about separating the recyclables from the non-recyclables nor do they know the collection dates for either type of refuse.

He said the Council should not issue such stern notices to scare the people but run more educational programs instead to increase public awareness after the requirement was made mandatory on June 1 this year.

"People are not sure how to separate their waste, the Council, and the companies they appoint to collect the recyclable items, should step up their awareness efforts," he added in a press conference today.

When contacted, Councillor Tan Chong Hee said a 12 month grace period was in force to allow ratepayers to get used to the new system so no compounds would be issued against those who did not separate their waste.

He said notices were one of the ways to raise the awareness of the public on the need to separate their rubbish.

"The Council has also conducted many campaigns and distributed flyers too," he said and that waste was only separated into two streams, recyclables and organic waste.
Tan said recyclables were collected on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in certain areas and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in other areas and urged those who needed more information to contact the Council.