KLUANG: More than 240,000 tonnes of solid waste was disposed of in the month of Ramadan last year, where a huge chunk was food waste, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Deputy Prime Minister said out of the total 243,095 tonnes of solid waste collected during last year’s Ramadan, 86,177 tonnes were food waste.
“Based on the Local Government Development Ministry and Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation’s annual solid waste data for 2023, Malaysians threw away 17,379 tonnes of food waste daily, equivalent to 473g per individual,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid said this in his speech when attending a Ramadan programme at Masjid Jamek Layang-Layang here on Thursday (March 14).
He added that Ramadan should be the month when Muslims reduce waste and spending and not the other way around.
“I urge the people to practise moderation by only buying what they need to avoid wastage,” he said.
Separately, Ahmad Zahid said the minimum wage for 3D (dirty, difficult, dangerous) should be increased to ensure sectors like farming, including the production of vegetables, would not be affected.
“These sectors currently depend on foreign labour because not many locals are willing to do the 3D jobs, also because the wages offered are low.
“In the long term, we aim to reduce our dependence on foreign labour and at the same time, we must increase the minimum wage offered to attract locals to work in such sectors,” he said, adding that the Human Resources Ministry and Home Ministry have been told to look into the matter. was asked to comment on media reports of two vegetable farmers associations that forecasted a price increase of up to 25% in the coming months due to the lack of foreign workers.
