SMC Chairman Clarence Ting
SIBU (April 26): Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) will soon roll out its mechanical road sweeper pilot project – the first municipal council in Sarawak to do so.
SMC Chairman Clarence Ting said mechanical road sweeping was supposed to begin in January for the central business district area, but was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances.
“Things are getting better now and the mechanical street sweeping should commence soon,” he said during the SMC monthly meeting today.
Should the pilot project prove feasible, Ting said it could be expanded to other commercial areas.
“With this mechanical street sweeping, my hope is that our streets should be cleaner and will not be so dusty,” he said.
Ting explained that the CBD areas to be covered would be from Kingwood Hotel (Jalan Maju) to Paramount Hotel (Jalan Kampung Datu).
He said the mechanical road sweeper would most likely operate at night to prevent traffic congestion.
On another matter, Ting said SMC staff who receive reports of open burning should submit the details and information to the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) for investigation.
He said NREB would then penalise those caught committing the offence.
“But they require us to give them the information, otherwise they will not know. So, if you receive any complaints on open burning, get all the evidence and addresses, and all this information must be sent periodically to NREB for them to update and take action. This is our duty,” he said.
In this regard, he reminded the SMC Public Health committee to address the issue, especially with the current dry season.
“People like to carry out open burning during this hot season and we should stop them from doing so,” he added.
