Kuching South to work with MCMC on blacklisting phone numbers printed on Ah Long banners

KUCHING (Feb 2): Kuching South City Council (MBKS) is seeking to blacklist telephone numbers for unlicensed moneylenders, which are printed on illegal banners put up here.

Kuching South mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng said the council is working with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on the mechanism.

“I’m very happy that MCMC has responded. They will be coming to us to teach us how to go into the system, then how to blacklist those numbers,” he told reporters.

“They will come in to teach us how we are going to key in all these numbers for complaints — just like on Facebook where you can submit a report. I think they already have that system now.”

He said MBKS would then do its part by keying in all the numbers of unlicensed moneylenders that have been displayed illegally.

“We hope that one day we will see all these banners disappear in Kuching.”

He was commenting on the recent reduction in the number of illegal banners seen around the city, which he attributed partly to MBKS’ continuous enforcement operations as well as increased public cooperation and community awareness.

“This is part and parcel of our ongoing duties that our enforcement is doing, because all this while, of course, people lodge complaints. People don’t like to see those things hanging on trees or in public areas because that creates a very bad image of the city,” he said.

He added enforcement officers have been actively conducting rounds, while community leaders and residents have also contributed by voluntarily removing illegal banners in their neighbourhoods.

“The most important thing is we have our community and our rakyat — that sense of belonging — which I really appreciate,” he said, citing the example of residents in his neighbourhood, who would take down banners during their morning walks.

Wee noted that MBKS removed between 15,000 and 20,000 banners last year, describing the figure as part of the council’s responsibility rather than an achievement.

He stressed that banners advertising moneylending services are never approved by MBKS and automatically classified as illegal.

He also confirmed that members of the public are allowed to remove such banners, encouraging them to notify the council if they are unable to do so.

“If you feel that it’s quite a hassle for you to take it down and all that, do inform us. Where is the place and all that — we will go there and take it down,” he added.