DOMESTIC waste collection is all set to go high tech in Petaling Jaya with Global Positioning System (GPS) installed in all garbage trucks to provide efficient service.
Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has given its new garbage contractors three months to install the GPS tracker.
The gadget can fit under the passenger seat of the truck.
Mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman said all contractors were told about the GPS device and it was in their contract. The cost of the GPS trackers will be borne by the contractors.
“We have 30 supervisors to keep tabs on the 32 garbage contractors but it is difficult to note their exact location at all times. The GPS will help us to pinpoint the exact location and the number of trips each truck had made,” he said.
Roslan said the use of GPS to track workers and vehicles was getting popular with the growing number of businesses that are bent on improving productivity and customer service.
“If our supervisors are not out there to monitor, we would not know how long it takes to do the grid of streets in one area that is given to a contractor
“But now the GPS will show the position of the truck,” he said.
Roslan said this was not about tracking people but managing the fleet of trucks.
“Once the GPS device is fitted to the trucks, the tracker monitoring system will be kept at the Health and Environment Department in Menara MBPJ.
“Our aim is to influence the behaviour of the workers,” he said.
“The GPS will tell us the time taken to collect domestic waste at a particular neighbourhood, the direction and speed of the drivers.
“Contractors are expected to use GPS-equipped trucks to clock in and log the time spent at each stop along the streets,” he added.
With the GPS and smaller areas carved out for contractors who are equipped with detailed mapped routes, the council hopes to give a better service to the residents with the 70 garbage trucks.
Roslan said the landfill in Jeram was opened until 11pm and the garbage contractors would be monitored until midnight and again at 5am when they start their duties.
