By Zareef Muzammil
SHAH ALAM, March 18 — It has proven difficult for KDEB Waste Management (KDEBWM) to carry out the segregation process on the collected 48,000 metric tonnes of post-flood waste as it is mixed with other types of refuse.
State executive councillor for local government Ng Sze Han said the role of the state-owned company during the crisis was to follow the state government’s instruction to remove the waste from the flood-affected areas as quickly as possible.
“Thus it is quite impossible and unrealistic to carry out the segregation process because all the waste is mixed, smelly and covered in silt.
“Imagine once the segregation process is done, the clean-up work will take a long time to complete and will definitely result in complaints coming from affected residents,” he said.
Ng said this during the winding-up of debate in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly earlier today.
Yesterday, Sementa state assemblyman Dr Daroyah Alwi raised the issue of waste segregation not being conducted during the post-flood clean-up operation of KDEBWM and local authorities.
Commenting further, he said the social and environmental impact were also given priority during an unforeseen disaster.
“Post-flood waste from the victims’ homes needs to be disposed of as soon as possible so their daily lives can resume,” Ng said, adding that a total of RM14.18 million was spent on the clean-up operations in all areas affected by the December 18 flood that hit Selangor last year.
