Community engagement is a priority for DBKU as it has enabled the city management to fulfill its goal of a healthy city. For this reason, Kuching City North Commission (DBKU), Education Department and the Natural Resources Environmental Board (NREB) of Sarawak have joined forces to establish and extend the “Friends of the Environment” programme via the engagement of 3P ( People, Public and Private) concept.
One of the objectives of this initiative is to enable communities to act as the eyes and ears for the relevant agencies and local authorities in curbing environmental issues such as open burning and illegal dumping. Among the community engagement activities carried out include : -
• Frequent group discussion and meeting between relevant government agencies and local community representatives
• River cleaning activities by the communities’ group and village folks • Cleaning of residential areas with all village folks and construction of waste bin centres
• Collection and sales of recyclables under DBKU Buy Back Campaign (weekly)
• Household involvement in Home Composting using EM Bokashi (Japanese) Methodology
• Organization of seminars such as the Low Carbon Programme, themed ‘Raise Your Voice, Not the Sea Level’
• Tree planting initiative
• Roundabout Corporate Social Responsibility Adoption project
• Community farming and gardening
• Local agenda 21 (LA21) support activities
• Santubong Nature Festival
• Forming of Friendly Neighbourhood commitee (Kejiranan Mesra)
DBKU has initiated the 3 R programme where there are two ways of recycling systems set up. The first is the 'Green Barter' Trade where recycled materials are exchanged with recyclable products. The second is the "3R Buy Back" programme which encourages communities to segregate wastes at source point and subsequently sell the recyclables to the vendors for cash. Examples of valuable waste include newspapers, PET bottles and aluminum cans. A total of 384 recycling community events of this nature will be implemented annually. This initiative is intended to reduce solid waste hence prolonging the usable life of the landfill.
DBKU will also actively promote the ‘3R Buy Back’ programme and introduce organic waste reduction through composting by using E.M Bokashi as described under the ASEAN Model City Composting project in Action 2. This concept of waste reduction at source will be implemented comprehensively starting with 1,000 households covering 5 new localities. This is part of an integrated solid Waste management system by the DBKU where the goal is to increase the recycling ratio of waste generated. In 2015, recycling ratio of DBKU is 17% and the goal is to increase to 22% by the end of 2020 as per government target
As part of its energy management initiatives, DBKU is promoting the use of energy efficient technology such as
• Green engine concept for newly purchased DBKU’s vehicles
• Installation of LED lighting to existing and new street lighting
• LED lighting at DBKU HQ by 2017 based on step by step financial allocation
• Installation of solar powered lighting for all public and community parks
• Adopt and adapt the Malaysia Green Building Index (GBI) The implementation of ISO 50001 (in progress) and ISO 14000 (completed) is also a priority for DBKU. It would serve as a foundation for DBKU to implement strategic long term energy management planning for its operations along as a cost cutting measure. More importantly, DBKU initiates these measures as part of its Clean Air Initiative under its Clean, Beautiful and Safe Masterplan.
Kuching is unique in Malaysia as it shares five modes of travel options including cycling,walking, the use of private motor vehicles,public transport and lastly river taxis. DBKU has embarked on a number of community oriented public transport initiatives such as encouraging cycling through the "Lets Share The Road" at Padang merdeka and"Cyclefest".
They have also incorporated Pedestrian and Bicycle pathways at Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, Taman Mini Satok and Esplanade waterfront. They have also carried out "Car Free Day " for 15 kilometres in the city centre. DBKU's biggest public transport initiative has been to improve the traffic flow to prevent traffic congestion at Main Bazaar and Gambier street at the cost of RM 300,000.
As part of its Clean Beautiful and Safe (CBS) Enhancement Plan (2013-2017), DBKU has installed 150 floodlights throughout Petra Jaya area another 295 in Satok area. They have also expanded to streets along Main Bazaar, Gambier Street and Kuching Esplanade to brighten up the city. In addition to this, more LED street lightings will be installed within the Kuching Golden Triangle. The project cost is RM 2.3 million (USD 560,000). The project is still ongoing where the energy and cost savings will be tabulated and determined later after the project has been fully completed.
Read More Read LessKuching North City Commission (DBKU) is the first council in Malaysia to adopt the polluter pays principle. The policy was enacted to make consumers become responsible for their waste generation and also in order for the council to meet their target of 50% reduction in waste generation as outlined in their Clean Beautiful Safe Masterplan.
Basically, each residential household is provided with a waste bin of 120 litres capacity while commercial business are provided with a bin of 120 or 240 litres capacity depending on their entitlement. Generally, the waste collection is conducted twice a week and if there are any request for extra collection, the council will charge the consumer a minimum of RM 43.20 per collection trip. The polluter pay concept is termed as Additional Collection request
(ACR) by DBKU. At present, the majority of clients come from the business community especially the commercial and industrial sector. The ACR system is intended to reduce the burden on processing solid waste by both DBKU and Trienekens which presently operates Malaysia's only integrated landfill in Kuching. The decision to bill the
ACR customer is intended to reduce the financial burden bourne by DBKU in managing solid waste and also to acclerate recycling efforts in accordance with government targets.
As the winning city for the Sustainable Cities (Bandar Lestari) Award at national level for two cycles in 2007 and 2010 respectively, Kuching North was selected as a model city for this Japan ASEAN cooperation programme. The objective of the project is to expand the capacity and improve the techniques of North Kuching city’s composting centre and home-based composting campaign in line with Kuching North's intention to become a Eco Friendly city by 2020. Apart from that, Kuching North aspires to become a vibrant and livable city of choice. The specific goal is to reduce its waste generation from 0.6 kg per capita per day (based on 2010) to 0.3 kg per capita per day by 2020. The project would complement and assist the existing 3 and R programme of DBKU.
Read More Read LessIn enhancing the beauty of the cityscape, a Greenery Master Plan was formulated in 2006. Under the Parks and Green Ordinance (1993) and Land Code Chapter 81 (1999), all developers are required to provide 10% of the land being developed for open spaces or green areas. At the same time, DBKU has also implemented a Trees Inventory System (SIPS) as a tool to manage and maintain all heritage trees.The system will enable DBKU to conduct hazard risk assessments of all trees under its jurisdiction for a more effective and systematic tree monitoring system. Furthermore, the planting of trees will serve as a mitigation measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide urban heat island reduction impact. At the same time, DBKU is emphasizing on optimisation of existing natural features such as waterfronts, open spaces and beaches in development projects in 6 projects including Botanical Gardens and Boyan Gersik Fort Margherita waterfront.
Read More Read LessCommunity engagement is a priority for DBKU as it has enabled the city management to fulfill its goal of a healthy city. For this reason, Kuching City North Commission (DBKU), Education Department and the Natural Resources Environmental Board (NREB) of Sarawak have joined forces to establish and extend the “Friends of the Environment” programme via the engagement of 3P ( People, Public and Private) concept.
One of the objectives of this initiative is to enable communities to act as the eyes and ears for the relevant agencies and local authorities in curbing environmental issues such as open burning and illegal dumping. Among the community engagement activities carried out include : -
• Frequent group discussion and meeting between relevant government agencies and local community representatives
• River cleaning activities by the communities’ group and village folks • Cleaning of residential areas with all village folks and construction of waste bin centres
• Collection and sales of recyclables under DBKU Buy Back Campaign (weekly)
• Household involvement in Home Composting using EM Bokashi (Japanese) Methodology
• Organization of seminars such as the Low Carbon Programme, themed ‘Raise Your Voice, Not the Sea Level’
• Tree planting initiative
• Roundabout Corporate Social Responsibility Adoption project
• Community farming and gardening
• Local agenda 21 (LA21) support activities
• Santubong Nature Festival
• Forming of Friendly Neighbourhood commitee (Kejiranan Mesra)
DBKU in its effort to enhance the outlook of Kuching's natural heritage, through its Sarawak river cleaning programme has managed to clean 25 kilometres length out of the total of 112 kilometres length. The cleaning cleanses the river from floating wastes by utilising an innovative and effective ‘low-tech hi-impact’ award winning mechanism. To further enhance the quality of the water in the river, DBKU implements and regulates compulsory desludging whilst all eateries and food outlets are to be installed with grease traps to ensure that waste and sullage water are treated before being discharged into the waterways. To complement this, educational and awareness campaigns have also be organised. Application of EM technology to treat sludge has also been applied in Sungai Bintangor and Sungai Bedil.
Read More Read LessAs Kuching is a low lying area, flood mitigation is critical.
Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) is carrying out works
to enlarge drain inlets and manhole covers to mitigate
flash floods in the city centre in areas such as Jalan Khoo Hun
Yeang, India Street and Gambier Street. City drains are frequently
cleared of rubbish and debris daily by council staff
to prevent clogging and flash floods. The total cost of flood
mitigation through improvement and upgrading works done on
existing and new drains have come up to RM 44.5
million from 2012 to 2015. The largest share of upgrading costs
may be attributed to Semerah Padi River and
Midin River which came up to RM 17.5 million.
