By Zareef Muzammil
LABIS, March 11 — Narrow village paths, unpredictable weather and limited waste collection centres were among the major challenges that members of the Selangor local authorities had to overcome during the three-day post-flood relief mission in the district.
Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) Quick Action Team (Pantas) head Shamsul Omar said the 12 members who were mobilised to make the second phase of the Bantuan Kita Selangor Penyayang mission a success have been working hard in the cleaning operation around Taman Damai Jaya 2 and Taman Sri Chaah, here since Wednesday until yesterday.
“Previously, we carried out many relief missions in states affected by floods such as Kedah, Kelantan and Penang, each with its own challenges.
“The situation here is different. The village and neighbourhood paths are quite narrow. In addition to the bulk waste piled up on the left and right of the route limits movement of large vehicles such as Roll-On-Roll-Off (RoRo) lorries and excavators.
“Even at noon yesterday, the cleaning works had to be stopped early due to rain and the waste collection centre had to be closed,” he said when met.
Yesterday, MPKj removed a total of 155 tonnes of flood waste that took 31 rounds from the two areas in reference to the temporary waste collection centre in Pekan Chaah.
Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) enforcement officer Asraf Mustaqim said the narrow path in Kampung Jawa Baru did not stop the spirit of the 20 members on duty, taking out a total of 57 tonnes of bulk garbage from the location involved.
He said they joined forces with 17 Selangor Volunteers (Serve) members to remove waste from the location at a total of 18 rounds of collection.
“I admit that it is quite difficult for large machinery to enter the village, not to mention that the road on the left side is full of trees. However, the problem was overcome,” he said.
As for Kuala Langat Municipal Council’s (MPKL) Pantas coordinator Shahrulnizam Khalil, he said their team had 14 members and they joined hands with the Hulu Selangor Municipal Council (MPHS) to clean up bulk garbage piles at Taman Mesra and Taman Sri Setia.
He said a total of 24 tonnes of garbage was removed from the location yesterday using only one unit of MPKL’s Pantas lorry and one unit of three-tonne RoRo lorry belonging to MPHS.
“In terms of RoRo and dredger needs, we are quite limited. The waste dump is also not enough to cover the capacity of unexpected flood waste,” he said.
A total of 291 members from various state government agencies consisting of local authorities, Serve, Team Selangor and KDEB Waste Management (KDEBWM) were mobilised in the post-flood phase two relief mission in Johor.
The mission that ended today focused on cleaning bulk waste in nine flood-affected localities around Labis using 107 assets including tankers, excavators, four-wheel drive vehicles and RoRo trucks.
