Fresh faces to collect garbage

Thursday March 1, 2012

Fresh faces to collect garbage

By CHRISTINA LOW and FAZLEENA AZIZ
metro@thestar.com.my

BEGINNING today, residents in Shah Alam and Ampang Jaya will see new garbage collectors with the appointment of new contractors.

The Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) and the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) have held meetings with the new contractors and they were briefed on the dos and don’ts in their scope of duties.

In Shah Alam, 50 new contractors have been appointed, while MPAJ had appointed 47 contractors for cleaning works and another 36 for solid waste management.

Shah Alam mayor Datuk Mohd Jaafar Mohd Atan said the council had reduced the number of contractors to 50, leaving each zone to have only one contractor in charge of the area.

He assured residents that the contractors had been told of their duties.

“They have all attended a talk last week where we briefed them about the do and don’ts that they should keep in mind,” said Mohd Jaafar, adding that the new contractors were given a three-year contract beginning March 1.

“If they do well, their contract will be extended for another two years but if they are not up to par we will not consider appointing them again after the third year,” he said.

Simultaneously, MPAJ president Datuk Mohammad Yacob said one more contractor for cleaning was still needed as each area would have one contractor.

“We will appoint another one in a month’s time and we expect the transition period will take about two to three months. Some contractors have begun to work in their respective areas, so we hope the public will play their part too in keeping their neighbourhoods clean.

“Most of the contractors are new with the exception of five who were with us previously. All the contractors are given three months to show their performance level where they will have to comply with our standards.

“If we receive complaints, they have to act within two hours as it takes some time to unload the waste in Jeram, Kuala Selangor. Failure will lead us to use our back-up and contract termination,” he said.

Mohammad also said the council was able to save about RM12mil from the budget allocated for waste management.

In another development, Moham–mad the council brought down 28,000 illegal banners under their jurisdiction last year.

The council imposes RM1,000 compound for each illegal banner.

“We have specific places where these banners aren’t allowed, such as at traffic light junctions and on road signage. We will look into areas where these banners are only allowed,” he said, adding that there were many people who failed to comply to the rules.

Interestingly, about 80% of business operators were late in renewing their licences.

There are about 9,000 business premises under MPAJ but only 5,000 had made renewals.

“The compound of RM200 for late licence renewal will be extended until end of March. After that, the compound will be at least RM700,” he said.