YCDC to take legal action against Pabedan litterbugs

Photo: Coconuts Yangon
Photo: Coconuts Yangon

The Pabedan township municipality filed a suit yesterday against residents who were caught throwing trash from their apartments onto the township’s back alleyways, specifically in 27th Street’s lower block.

Speaking to Eleven, deputy head Zaw Win Naing of the YCDC’S Department of Environmental Conservation and Sanitation explained, “Last September, we were able to clear out all the trash in the back alleys of Pabedan. Then people threw out more trash; they even dumped it while we were cleaning. As a result, the EO office filed a lawsuit.”

The clean-up is part of a mass project that was first started by the YCDC last July. In addition to getting rid of the garbage piling up in downtown’s back alleys, the project aims to turn the alleyways into areas where residents can relax, grow plants, and socialize with their neighbors. Currently, approximately an eighth of these alleys have been successfully converted into recreational areas.

“Doing this [suing offenders] is in everyone’s best interest. It starts with one or two people. We started wondering if this [littering] was happening because no action was being taken [against the perpetrators]. We’re not doing this because we want to punish people, but because we want to fix the problem. It’ll only work if everyone changes their ways and learns how to live communally,” said Yangon mayor and YCDC chairman Maung Maung Soe.

Under the current administration, the YCDC has been attempting to clean up the back alleys of the six townships that make up downtown Yangon: Pabedan, Kyauktada, Latha, Lanmada, Pazundaung, and Botahtaung. Once those six areas are taken care of, they have plans to extend the project to Ahlone, Mingala Taungnyunt, and Bahan.

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