Smart City Friends initiative to help make Kota Kinabalu cleaner
Published on: Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Published on: Wed, May 14, 2025
By: Diana Liu Text Size: Kota Kinabalu: City Hall (DBKK) is introducing a reward system to encourage public participation in its newly rebranded Smart City Friends initiative. The initiative is a community programme that goes beyond cleanliness, focusing on civic education, sustainable culture, technology use and social responsibility. Mayor Datuk Seri Dr Sabin Samitah hopes the move will help make the State Capital cleaner and more liveable. 'Membership in Smart City Friends comes with various benefits and incentives, such as a point reward system based on level of participation, discounts for the use of DBKK public facilities, free access to selected public toilets, an annual certificate of appreciation as part of an active social portfolio and automatic membership in Malaysian Drug Prevention Association (Pemadam). 'This is a progressive, merit-based approach that recognises the contributions of each member in building a clean and liveable city,' he said at the Rebranding Ceremony of City Friends to Smart City Friends, Tuesday. Also present were DBKK Director-General Lifred Wong, Deputy Director-General of the Management Services Sector, Faradillah Abdul Rani, and others. Sabin said the initiative supports the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, particularly in the areas of healthy communities, safe cities and efficient waste management. 'This aligns with the global effort towards sustainability, focusing on creating a better urban environment through active community participation and responsible management of resources. 'This programme is also capable of fostering a culture of not littering, enhancing voluntary enforcement and expanding community oversight,' he said. Other than that, through the initiative, he said DBKK provides ample opportunity for the entire community to become strategic partners in jointly planning, implementing and evaluating urban initiatives. He said the approach aligns with the spirit of 'whole of society', which emphasises inclusive participation in urban governance in a holistic manner. According to him, the involvement of social media should also be fully utilised by Smart City Friends members as an effective two-way communication channel to disseminate information, share ideas and build comprehensive networks of collaboration. 'A tech-savvy community with high civic awareness and mature thinking will be an important asset to the development of a sustainable city,' he said. In another development, Sabin said DBKK will add to the existing number of CCTVs. However, he was unable to provide the exact number as the process is still ongoing and involves external agencies. 'In our efforts to install the CCTVs, we will also deploy enforcement personnel to ensure that the poles and cables for the new CCTVs are not stolen before the units are fully installed and operational,' he said. In response to a question about road conditions, Sabin said DBKK would ensure no potholes. 'If there are potholes, we will take stern action against the companies responsible for not doing their job,' he said. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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