6,000 tonnes of rubbish disposed

JOHOR BARU: Close to 6,000 tonnes of garbage have been collected following the floods and sent to landfills, says Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.

The Deputy Local Government Development Minister said the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) had sent the rubbish to three landfills – Buloh Kasap in Segamat, Moakil (Labis) and Batu Empat (Kota Tinggi).

“A total of 5,925 tonnes of flood debris were cleared from March 3 to March 25. Besides SWCorp, the clean-up operations also involved eight local councils.

“The highest daily collection was on March 14 and 15 with over 482 tonnes collected each day,” he told reporters after attending the Back to School Aid Programme at Dewan Flat Larkin here yesterday.

Akmal Nasrullah added that clean-up operations in Segamat were fully completed on March 19 while the exercise in Batu Pahat was completed yesterday.

“SWCorp will continue to work with local councils including going to traditional villages to ensure all affected areas are not left out.

“We want to ensure that all flood debris are removed as soon as possible to avoid any incidents that might affect the residents’ health,” he said.

SWCorp has also introduced six temporary dumpsites (TDS) in Yong Peng and Batu Pahat, namely Taman Peri, Taman Universiti, Taman Kapal Layar, Jalan Labis-Yong Peng, Kampung Sri Ramunia and Jalan Muar-Parit Sulong.

“All the debris and rubbish from housing areas and villages will be collected first and taken to the TDS. From there, they will be sent to the landfills.

“This method saves time compared to travelling back and forth between the housing areas to the landfills,” he said, adding that SWCorp had also started clean-up operations on all drainage systems in flooded areas and work was expected to be completed by the end of this month.

The councils involved are Segamat Municipal Council, Tangkak District Council, Muar Municipal Council, Labis District Council, Yong Peng District Council, Batu Pahat Municipal Council, Kota Tinggi District Council and Kluang Municipal Council.

The clean-up operations also involved 299 heavy machinery consisting of 16-tonne lorries and five-tonne roll-on, roll-off lorries, open tipper lorries, excavators, bulldozers, bulky waste lorries and 762 workers.

“We also received help from concessionaire companies E-Idaman Sdn Bhd and Alam Flora Sdn Bhd,” he added.

State housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said the state government had sent a request to SWCorp to extend the clean-up period for at least another two weeks.

“The clean-up operations are divided into two groups where SWCorp is working on taxable areas (houses and shop lots) while non-taxable areas (traditional villages) are handled by the Yong Peng District Council and Batu Pahat Municipal Council.

“Since SWCorp has completed its part, we hope that it can provide assistance to the local councils in speeding up the exercise in rural areas,” he said.

Mohd Jafni said the councils involved had very limited resources and depended entirely on the state disaster fund to operate.

Asked whether the huge amount of rubbish would affect the lifespan of the landfills involved, he said most of the waste was biodegradable and would not have a huge impact on the landfills.