PETALING JAYA – Despite being adorned with beautiful murals along its alleyways, the SS2 area here is teeming with indiscriminately thrown garbage, no thanks to the work of inconsiderate litterbugs.
Petaling Jaya City Council Zone 8 Councillor Billy Wong says the scattered waste has mostly affected the well-being of residential and commercialised areas, adding that the issue is also prevalent in the whole district.
The garbage problem is more apparent in SS2 compared to other nearby areas, as the busy locality is a popular haunt for shoppers and other revellers.
“This is not only a problem in SS2, but it has been an issue faced by the entire Petaling Jaya area in general,” Wong told The Vibes when met recently.
Lackadaisical attitudes
Wong’s assistant, Loh Y Lun, blamed the lackadaisical attitude of shop and business owners in the district, saying they are the biggest contributors to the dirty environment.
“They have certain guidelines that they are required to follow, such as placing the large green bins outside their shops.
“However, many of them still do not have those bins, and they can face a fine of up to RM1,000,” Loh said.
He also said that the council’s efforts to advise the locals and businesses and calls to keep the area clean have fallen on deaf ears.
When met by The Vibes, an SS2 resident who only wanted to be known as Lau claimed that some people even resorted to disposing of their household garbage in other streets and alleys that were well beyond their homes.
“Sometimes the rubbish bin can be (situated) right outside their homes, but they still choose to throw them outside someone else’s house,” Lau said.
“Sometimes they can even walk all the way to the other lanes just to litter.”
Another resident, Foo, said he often falls victim to litterbugs who leave garbage in front of his house, despite him raising the matter with his neighbours.
“It’s very annoying because regardless of what I say, they (litterbugs) still like to throw rubbish outside my house. If that’s not enough, they even litter the drains,” said Foo.
Although they are largely blamed for causing the problem, business owners in the area appear to be apathetic towards the lack of cleanliness as they feel it does not affect their livelihoods.
“It doesn’t really impact our business, because the people in our areas are already used to the (dirty) environment,” a trader, who declined to be named, said.
“Of course, we do get some complaints, but it doesn’t really affect our sales and business.”
Another business owner, who spoke anonymously, said he hopes small businesses will gradually begin making efforts to ensure the cleanliness of the areas surrounding their premises.
“There are more complains about the (nearby) wet market rather than our small shops, but even the market has started taking an initiative to change, maybe all the small businesses can do the same,” he said.
Shift in mindsets
Meanwhile, Loh also said there needs to be a shift in mindsets about the importance of cleanliness if SS2 and the wider Petaling Jaya district were to be a pristine area.
“Although we have tried to use many different methods, such as the Mural Restoration Project, annual clean-ups, and more, they (residents and businesses) ignore instructions to dispose of rubbish in the proper places,” Loh said.
Asked about other possible solutions, Loh said consistent awareness campaigns and educating the public will help change mindsets on the matter.
“(The principle of) ‘Don’t do unto others what you don’t want to be done unto you’ was a mindset instilled in me back in primary school,” Loh said.
“So I think education plays an important role in solving this (issue).”
He added that he hopes the young generation will not follow in the footsteps of the litterbugs while helping to change the mindsets of the residents through participation in the annual “gotong-royong”. – The Vibes, January 27, 2023
