Tuesday July 3, 2007
Waste-handling lessons
By NG SI HOOI
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government aims to educate every household in the country on how to separate their rubbish – as waste or items for recycling – over the next two years.
This would prepare them for the corporatisation of solid waste and public cleaning management.
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Ong: ‘Before we implement it, we want to ensure that all parties are ready with sufficient facilities’ |
“For example, we will not collect the waste inside the bin meant for recyclable items. But before we implement it, we want to ensure that all parties are ready with sufficient facilities,” he said during a press conference at his ministry here yesterday.
Ong said the ministry wanted to ensure that separation-at-source was carried out so that recyclable items would not end up in landfills.
“When there are enough staff and recycling amenities, the concessionaires will collect recyclable items from house to house.”
He said knowing the 3Rs was essential as, based on the amount of waste generated by Malaysians currently, there would be more than 31,000 tonnes of solid waste discarded every day in 2020.
During the current Parliament sitting, the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Bill 2007 and other related Bills – the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation Bill, the Town and Country Planning Bill, the Local Government (Amendment) Bill and the Street, Drainage and Building (Amendment) Bill – will be tabled.
The state governments in Peninsular Malaysia have given the executive power to the Federal Government to take over solid waste management.
“The local authorities will give a portion of the assessment collection to the Federal Government, and the remaining costs will be borne by the Government.”
Ong said certain local authorities lacked funds and this had led to the poor performance of solid waste management.
“Once the Bills are passed in Parliament, we will sign contracts with the concessionaries so that they will have more investment to provide better service to the public,” he said.
He said the concessionaries would be given two years to improve their service.
Currently, there are three solid waste concessionaries – Alam Flora Sdn Bhd, Southern Waste Management and E-idaman.
He said the Government would set up the National Solid Waste Management Department as the regulatory body while the Solid Waste Management Corporation would handle operations.
“A tribunal, similar to the consumer and housing tribunals, will also be set up to handle disputes on payment for solid waste services,” he said.
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