COST TO TAXPAYERS: $1.26M YEARLY
Waste problem blamed on unlicensed contractors

It's all because of bad attitude and poor enforcement

KUALA LUMPUR - Illegal dumping, a growing problem in the Malaysian capital, is costing taxpayers an extra RM2.6 million (S$1.26 million) a year in fees for cleaning up solid waste discarded at empty lots, back lanes, carparks, near drains and even on road shoulders.

Solid-waste disposal contractor Alam Flora said it collects 102 tonnes of waste - enough to fill 1,000 wheelbarrows - a day from numerous sites in the city.

And the Kuala Lumpur City Hall has to pay the contractor RM2.6 million a year just to clear the illegal dumpsites, over and above the RM100 million it is already paying the company to collect domestic waste.

The list of discarded items includes everything from food waste to construction debris, furniture, refrigerators and mattresses.

Industry watchers, like environmentalist Gurmit Singh, point to a serious lack of enforcement and the lackadaisical attitude of the people as the roots of the problem.

Mr Singh, who is also the director of the Centre for Environment Technology and Development (Cetdem), said: 'The waste disposal problem is at least 30 to 40 years old and the reason has always been the same...it is a serious lack of enforcement, where the local authorities do not even monitor the sites.'

Besides poor enforcement, he also blamed irresponsible companies that hire unscrupulous contractors to clean up their waste and do not care where it is dumped.

At present, household waste is collected by private concession holders such as Alam Flora. The waste collectors are monitored by local councils and the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

Industrial waste is collected by private contractors who do not need a special licence. All it takes to become a solid-waste disposal contractor is a lorry registered as a vehicle carrying garbage, and a permit from the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board to use the lorry to carry waste.

As they do not obtain a licence to transport waste, contractors can collect waste from anyone and throw it wherever they like.

Many get away doing just that, as City Hall's Landscaping and Cleanliness Management Department deputy director Muhammad Sidek Khalid admits.

To make a fast buck, they usually charge from RM40 to RM50 per tonne of waste and dump it indiscriminately instead of taking it to City Hall's dumpsite in Taman Wahyu, where they would be charged RM32 per tonne.

Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara Chew Mei Fun has suggested that these contractors should be blacklisted, but that this would only work if the authorities know who the contractors are - an impossible task without licensing.--New Straits Times