Cheong (foreground, left) looking at a drain filled with rubbish in the commercial area under MPKj jurisdiction.
A CLEANING contractor and those supervising the work have been taken to task by Kajang assemblyman David Cheong for a job badly done.
The outrage followed a visit to a commercial centre in Bandar Mahkota Cheras, Selangor, where heaps of rubbish were discovered clogging drains.
The accumulated rubbish showed that the drains had not been cleaned for months, Cheong said during the site visit with Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) representatives.
He raised concerns regarding environmental pollution and its detrimental impact on MPKj’s public image.
“I visited the site several times this year, in April, July and August, the rubbish kept piling up with no effort to clear it up.
“But records show that the contractor last cleaned the area in September and payment was made promptly.”
Cheong said the contractor had been doing a poor job but still received payment up to the last month of service.
“The contractor, those who recommended them, and the work supervisor must be investigated for accountability and oversight,” he urged.
Cheong said the situation was disheartening, as it reflected long-standing issues of poor services and weak enforcement.
“It is not fair to the residents and business owners to continue paying taxes for municipal services that they are not getting.
“I requested MPKj representatives at the site visit to submit formal reports to their respective department heads.”
He said the shoddy work had led MPKj to pay for additional catch basin cleanups and other services.
Cheong said he would arrange a meeting with the relevant MPKj department directors and MPKj president for a long-term and sustainable solution to the rubbish problem to prevent further waste of public funds.
Persatuan Perniagaan Bandar Mahkota Cheras chairman Lee Wen Bin claimed the cleaning contractor had been carrying out substandard work for a long time.
“The cleaning contractor does not clean thoroughly, often only doing surface-level work and neglecting certain areas.
“The waste collection contractor also does not do a thorough job, and the situation is made worse by individuals who illegally dump rubbish in undesignated areas.”
Lee said the business community wanted the cleaning and rubbish collection services to be improved.
StarMetro reached out to MPKj for comment but did not receive a response at press time.
