By Nasuha Badrul Huzaini
KDEB Waste Management (KDEBWM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Menteri Besar Selangor (Incorporated) (MBI), was established in 2016 with the objective to manage domestic waste collection as well as to carry out public cleansing services in Selangor.
When talking about waste management services, the idea of digitalisation does not readily come to one’s mind. This is due to the fact that the public is still not familiar with how such services can be carried out in a modern approach.
Yet, as early as July 2016, KDEBWM had already managed to launch, against many odds, a mobile application (app) known as iClean Selangor.
Its managing director, Ramli Mohd Tahir, said the iClean Selangor app was developed to facilitate Selangor residents in submitting complaints about waste collection and public cleansing to KDEBWM.
He said the idea was to make it easier for people to lodge their complaints. “The (app) user is required to take photos as evidence before they can lodge a complaint, for instance, about uncollected garbage at their house. The complaint will then be forwarded to the Centralised Command Centre (CCC), and the photos will be automatically geotagged with their location.
“The CCC will inform the ground supervisors to check on each complaint. The app also allows the user to track the status of their complaints in real-time.
“I can assure that all complaints are resolved within four hours they are sent,” he said in a virtual interview with Selangor Journal recently.
As of now, the number of users for the app stands at 37,325, and Ramli said KDEBWM is targeting to hit 70,000 users by the end of this year.
He strongly believes that by utilising smart solutions and technology, KDEBWM has ensured better quality of their services and has empowered residents to play a part in keeping the state clean.
“The introduction of such innovation and smart technologies is also part of the Smart Selangor initiative,” he said.
Moving forward, Ramli said the app has been upgraded with an additional new function called ‘iClear’.
“iClear’ functions as a Smart Waste Operation Progress Tracker for KDEBWM and our subcontractors.
It was designed to increase work efficiency and to monitor the progress of the work carried out,” he said.
Achievements and awards
If we were to gauge KDEBWM’s achievement from when it was established five years ago, many people would agree that the company has made amazing progress in such a short period.
To this, Ramli said with a fleet strength of more than 1,000 state-of-the-art vehicles, 1,100 subcontractors and a 10,000-strong crew, KDEBWM has emerged as the largest waste management company in Malaysia in terms of tonnage of waste collection, at 7,000 metric tonnes daily.
“We have received multiple national and international recognition and awards.
“Among the achievements include being awarded by the Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Good Practice Award 2020 for the ‘Smart Waste Solutions Company of the Year’ category for three consecutive years,” he said.
Apart from that, KDEBWM has also been recognised by the International Business Review, where the company was awarded the IBR 2020 Award under the category of Corporate Excellence in the Utilities Sector.
“KDEBWM is also accredited with International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certification with the latest versions of standards 9001:2015 and 14001:2015 for quality and environmental management for all our branch operations.
“This achievement and recognition clearly show that we have successfully managed solid waste collection and public cleansing works in Selangor for the past five years.”
Minor setbacks
According to Ramli, when the first movement control order was enforced in March last year, waste collection and public cleansing were carried out as usual according to the schedule set by the local authorities.
“Until now, we have never stopped working despite the many directives issued by the government relating to movement control. Our workers are on the ground 365 days a year, always ready to give their best service to the people of Selangor.
“However, I admit that there are challenges ahead relating to areas that are under the enhanced movement control order.
“Apart from ensuring that all standard operating procedures are met, our supervisors and crew sometimes have difficulty in conducting collection and cleaning, and they face health risks too.”
Ramli also appealed to the public to be more aware of KDEBWM’s operations and schedule.
“I humbly ask for your cooperation not to obstruct the road and to park your cars properly. This is to ensure that our lorries can pass through and can make their rounds to collect your waste,” he added.
This article first appeared in the Selangor Journal monthly August edition, published on August 9, 2021.
