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THE Ampang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPAJ) newly-appointed contractors for waste management and cleaning work started work yesterday.
MPAJ president Datuk Mohammad Yacob said 47 contractors had been appointed for cleaning work while 36 would be for solid waste management.
“Some contractors have started work in their respective areas, so we hope the public will also play their part in keeping their areas clean.
“Most of the contractors are new with the exception of five, who were with us previously. We will gauge the performance of the contractors in three months.
“A contractor will have to act within two hours after receiving a complaint. If they fail to do so we will rely on our back-up contractors and terminate the contract of the errant ones,” he said at the full baord meeting on Wednesday.
Mohammad also spoke about the council bringing down 28,000 illegal banners in the municipality last year.
So far, another 2,000 banners have been brought down by MPAJ. The council imposes a RM1,000 compound for each illegal banner.
“Banners are not allowed to be put up at traffic light junctions and road signboards,” he said, adding that there were many people who failed to abide by the rules.
It was also mentioned that 80% of business operators were late in renewing their licences. There are about 9,000 business premises in the municipality but only 5,000 had renewed their licences.
Mohammad said business operators could renew their licences three months before the expiry date so there was no need to use the service of a middleman.
“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.
The meeting was the last session for the present councillors before new ones are appointed by the state government.
Mohammad said two councillors did not want their terms to be renewed
THE Selangor Government has finalised the list of new local councillors and their names will be announced by the respective local authorities beginning today.
Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said he had personally gone through the names before approving them.
He said the names would be announced by the respective councils over the next two days.
Asked how many new faces there would be from the total of 288 councillors at the 12 local authorities in the state, Khalid said: “It will be made known by the councils. I approved the list but let the councils announce the names.”
He also indicated that the new term for councillors would be more than a year as was practised by the Pakatan Government now.
He said he would discuss the matter with the relevant people before finalising the length of term for the local councillors.
“One year is too short to assess performance of councillors,” he said.
In the past, the state government had come under fire for appointing the councillors on a yearly basis.
Critics felt that one year was too short for the councillors to perform as they needed time to settle down.
The term of former councillors expired on Dec 31, 2011.
However, they were reappointed to office on a month-to-month basis since then.
Meanwhile, a check by StarMetro found the final list of the councillors had not reached the local authorities as at press time yesterday.
Officials for the Kajang Municipal Council, Shah Alam City Council, Selayang Municipal Council and Klang Municipal Council said the list was not with them yet.
State local government committee chairman Ronnie Liu urged the newly-appointed councillors to be determined in providing the best service to the people.
“We have done well over the past three years and I believe we can do better,’’ he said.
During the period, Liu said the councils had improved in terms of service, administration and financial standing.
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.
AMPANG has come a long way since its last major landslide in 2008 and this year the residents and the local authority are playing important roles in slope mitigation and increasing awareness on the problem.
At the forefront of creating awareness on slope mitigation is the Coalition of Bukit Antarabangsa Residents’ Association (CoBARA).
The association’s SlopeWatch programme consists of a small group of people who work towards ensuring the hills are monitored and maintained.
Programme chairman Razak Baharom said they had engaged the community since the programme’s inception and worked out a system with the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) on reporting slope problems.
“This has resulted in a more efficient way of handling such incidences,” he said.
According to him, the preventive action taken by the MPAJ has helped prevent landslides.
Programme director Eriko Motoyama said in the aftermath of the landslide, residents tended to be anxious over anything they perceived as slope problems.
“Many tended to believe landslides happen out of the blue but there are many signs before one happens where preventive action can be taken,” she said.
Safe: Though it is now covered in grass and nicely terraced, this slope is a stark reminder to many of the 2008 Bukit Antarabangsa landslide tragedy that eventually cost RM70mil to repair.While Bukit Antarabangsa residents are learning to cope with living in a high-risk area and are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibility in slope maintenance, those living in other parts of Ampang are still struggling with the problem.
Some, like those living in Kampung Bukit Sungai Puteh, have been known to continue living in their houses despite a landslip behind their homes.
“When we receive reports of any slope incident including those on private land, we take immediate action by installing tarpauline sheets on the exposed soil to prevent more water seeping into the ground,” said MPAJ president Datuk Mohammad Yacob, adding the council monitored about 600 slopes in Ampang.
He said when a landslide occurred on private land, the council would send a notice to the owner for rectification work.
On MPAJ’s part, they have also organised two talks this year for those living in strata-titled units and included a session where MPAJ’s slope division head Zafrul Fazry Mohd Fauzi would educate them on slope issues.
The council has also distributed booklets called Guidelines on Slope Maintenance for Public with basic information on slope maintenance to the residents.
Mohammad said they had a Disaster Control Room with teams on standby for emergencies such as landslides, soil erosion, flash floods and even fallen trees.
“Whenever the rainy season approaches, we have three teams on standby. During other times we only have one,” he said of the room that was established in 2007.
Even developers are starting to play a more responsible role in slope-mitigation and one such work that took place this year was along Jalan Wangsa 1 in Bukit Antarabangsa where a landslide occurred 12 years ago, cutting off access for thousands living there.
A spokesman of the landowner and developer, Superview Development Sdn Bhd, said the work was a result of a notice sent by MPAJ three years ago.
“We hired a geotechnical expert to study the slope’s water content and type of soil before coming up with the best design possible to strengthen the slope,” he said.
The project was completed recently and the developer has reassured residents that they have no further plans to develop the slope.
