Perak exco tasks Environment Dept to look into UK reports of mounds of plastic waste in jungle

IPOH: Perak Environment Committee chairman Dr Abdul Aziz Bari has expressed shock over a report by a UK-based news website that quoted BBC as finding a 6m-high mound of plastic waste deep in the jungles of Perak.

Abdul Aziz said he has no information about the matter and has tasked the state Environment Department to look into it.

“It’s quite embarrassing but I trust the department will also check with the Ipoh City Council.

“I am confident we can get to the bottom of this,” he said when met during a bubur lambuk cooking programme at the state Education Department headquarters here Monday (May 27).

The Daily Mail Online had quoted from BBC’s trailer for a three-part documentary that showed the mounds of plastic waste.

It also reported that the mountains of plastic waste from the United Kingdom that were intended for recycling had been shipped to Malaysia.
Abdul Aziz said he was only aware about the report from a friend.

“I am not sure how the garbage can arrive here. It could possibly be through ports and containers.

“We will wait for the reports from the department and city council,” he said.