Municipality warns litterbugs

MUSCAT, Nov 13 - With the capital all set for the National Day celebrations, Muscat Municipality has warned of a crackdown on littering in the city.

“There is a law to strictly deal with littering or any other form of dirtying the city. There will not be any more leniency on violators,” said an official at the directorate of cleaning affairs at the municipality. He said the inspectors from the civic body have intensified efforts to clamp down on littering or cluttering garbage in the open areas of the city. “There will also be checking on campers and visitors who throw trash in valleys, parks and other beauty spots. Offenders will be slapped with fines,” he said.

According to the municipality law, anyone caught littering will be fined RO 1,000, while repeat offenders will have to pay double this amount as fine.

The official said the directorate schedules periodic visits to implement clean-up and pest control campaigns across the Wilayat of Muscat. He said the municipality had earlier installed surveillance cameras at a number of locations in Seeb as a pilot project to help control the practice of random dumping of garbage. “With these cameras, the municipality was able to monitor vehicles throwing waste on roads and take action against offenders,” he said. According to statistics from be’ah, Oman Environmental Services Holding Company, the waste per capita per day in Oman stands at a staggering 1.2 kg.

The Sultanate produced two million tonnes of municipal solid waste last year, which is waste generated from households, restaurants and hotels. “The directorate has installed garbage containers at different locations and launched several initiatives to end the menace of garbage accumulation in a bid to maintain a healthy environment that is free of pests, diseases or any form of contaminations,” the official said. He urged the community to sustain these facilities and cooperate with the civic authorities “to eliminate anything that could affect the urban environment”.

SAMUEL KUTTY