Dirty alley: Stacks of rubbish littering the back lane of some shop apartments in Taman Sri Andalas, Klang. — KK SHAM/The Star
KLANG: Too lazy to walk downstairs to dispose of their garbage, it is common for some flat dwellers and residents of shop apartments to simply chuck it out of their windows or balconies.
Klang Municipal Council (MPK) Environmental Services Department director Zaireezal Zainuddin said most litter thrown out of windows and balconies comes from units rented by foreign workers.
“So to overcome this, we have implemented some new guidelines, pertaining to garbage disposal, for employers who rent these places as hostels for their foreign workers,’’ he said.
He added that MPK had on several occasions carried out cleaning operations in the affected areas and placed additional garbage disposal bins there.
The problem areas, he said, were in the flats and shop apartments in Pandamaran B, Bukit Tinggi and Seri Andalas.
Pandamaran assemblyman Tony Leung concurred that the problem was mostly due to foreigners living in the area.
“A few years ago, I received some complaints, and I asked the units’ Joint Management Body (JMB) to speak with the culprits,’’ he said.
(A JMB is a committee made up of residents as well as representatives of relevant bodies, including the residential project’s developer.)
He added that the JMB volunteers reminded the foreigners that the garbage they had thrown from their balconies or windows might hit or injure people.
“They were also told that if they persisted, we would complain to MPK, and the council would fine them.
“So it’s a little better now in my constituency,’’ said Leung.
Sentosa assemblyman Gunaraj George said his main problem was dealing with the residents of the Sentosa Perdana shop apartments.
“They throw all kinds of garbage, including bottles, out of their windows expecting the cleaners to pick up after them,’’ he said.
Gunaraj said he was so peeved by the residents’ attitude that he went to every unit with a residents’ association representative and issued notices telling them to stop hurling trash out of their windows or balconies.
“But they are still doing it,’’ an exasperated Gunaraj said.
Former MPK councillor M. Puspavali said some of the residents, who ate betel leaves and nuts, were also in the habit of spitting out their red-tinged saliva while standing on their balconies.
If the saliva did not hit passers-by below, it would land on the streets and on objects, including vehicles parked underneath the units.
She added that the JMB in some of the low-cost flats and shop apartments had also regularly called for meetings to discuss the matter, but this did not help much.
“The owners of the units, who have rented them out, never come for these meetings,’’ she said.
Zaireezal said the council was doing whatever it could to handle the situation.
“We are also making the zones in Klang smaller for it to be easier for these areas to be kept clean.
“We currently have 68 zones in Klang, and we are breaking these up and turning them into 100 zones so that entire zones can be covered during cleaning,’’ he explained.
Zaireezal noted that under a new ruling, developers must also be responsible for providing garbage disposal bins for newly-built high-rise residential buildings and shop apartments.
