Photos courtesy of Johor Fire and Rescue Department
JOHOR BARU: Piles of garbage illegally dumped at an abandoned building has been identified as the cause of the fire on Jalan Wong Ah Fook here.
Johor Housing and Local Government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said a team from SWCorp Johor Baru inspected the aftermath of the fire on Monday (April 22).
“The abandoned building has been turned into a dumping ground for solid waste garbage by unscrupulous parties,’’ he said in a statement on Monday.
Mohd Jafni said, based on observations from the Johor Fire and Rescue Department, fabrics, tall grass, and other rubbish were among the piles of garbage.
“The area where the fire started is also frequented by drug addicts in downtown Johor Baru,’’ he said.
Mohd Jafni said the fire that broke out on Sunday (April 21) at 12:35pm only damaged about 30% of the façade of Wisma HYH, which is located next to the abandoned building.
He added that, according to the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) Licensing Department, there were seven registered premises at the vacant building, and all the licenses had expired.
“MBJB is cancelling the licences. The owners are locals," said Mohd Jafni, adding that SWCorp had cleared the rubbish in the vacant building.
The case is being investigated under Section 71(1) of the Solid Waste Act and Public Cleansing Act 2007 (Act 672).
Those found guilty would be fined not less than RM10,000 and not exceeding RM100,000, jailed for a term not less than six months and not exceeding five years, or both.
