IPOH: A retired teacher has been living amidst rubbish piled as high as four feet, scattered around her home in Taman Bersatu, Simpang Pulai here, for the past 10 years.
It is not something residents in the area are unfamiliar with, as the 63-year-old woman, who lives alone, loves to collect garbage.
The rubbish is mostly comprised of domestic waste such as food, plastic bags, cardboard boxes, tin cans, plastic and glass which emit a foul stench, especially when it rains.
Her neighbour, Agnes Kam, 65, said she had initially spoken to the woman about removing her rubbish heap several times, but when her polite chiding fell on deaf ears, she became agitated and ended up scolding her.
"The stench is so strong and I can't afford to open the windows and door at my home. The woman loves to collect rubbish and sometimes, she needs to climb over the rubbish to enter her home.
"We are afraid for our safety because there could be snakes there, or perhaps mosquito breeding grounds," she said, adding that some rodents have entered her home.
"The woman is a retired teacher. We have to bear the foul stench from the house and it gets worse when it rains.
"My 82-year-old sister and I were down with dengue fever previously, because there are way too many mosquitoes and flies at her home," she said.
Another neighbour, Mohd Hanifah Pareeth, 67, said he lodged a report with the police as well as the local authority over the matter, as he could not stand the smell and condition of the house.
Mohd Hanifah said three large dustbins were used to collect the rubbish, but the woman soon brought new rubbish home.
"We have advised her so many times, but she keeps giving the same answer that she wants to sell the rubbish," he said, adding that some of the waste which she collects cannot not be sold.