By Zareef Muzammil
LABIS, March 10 — The second day of the post-flood relief mission has cleared up piles of bulk waste in nearly 500 homes of affected victims involving nine areas in Labis.
State executive councillor for human capital development Mohd Khairuddin Othman said the cleanup of flood debris involving 291 members consisting of local authorities, Selangor Volunteers (Serve), Team Selangor and KDEB Waste Management (KDEBWM) went smoothly.
“The cleaning work that started at 10am went quite well. This is all the result of the hard work of the relevant parties who are on duty at the designated locations.
“I thank all parties involved in the cleaning operation here. It is hoped that our members will be consistent in completing the mission until tomorrow (today),” he said when met after joining the volunteers in cleaning bulk waste in Kampung Jawa Baru here.
Also present was State Disaster Management Unit (Management Services) Divisional secretary Muhammad Hanafi Ahmad.
Mohd Khairuddin said that the local residents welcomed the presence of volunteers from Selangor who helped speed up the cleaning work.
“The residents welcomed us here and were happy that they got help from us.
“Alhamdulillah, we were able to clean a lot of bulk waste which was the main aim of the cleanup this time. In addition, there are residents who still want to choose items in the house before throwing them away,” he said.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Hanafi said the members did not face any constraints while the cleaning operation was carried out, in addition, the assets and machinery brought in were still in good condition.
“I am proud to see solid cooperation given by all local authorities including KDEBWM, Team Selangor and Serve to ensure that bulk garbage is cleared immediately from residential areas,” he said.
On a separate note, Serve expressed its readiness to mobilise members to clean some of the homes in the districts that were affected by the floods.
Selangor Sports Council (SMSN) executive director Mohamad Nizam Marjugi said he received applications from residents, especially the elderly, who needed help cleaning their homes.
“The mission this time is to clean up bulk garbage to avoid large piles of waste on the side of the village road, but there is a request from some residences inhabited by elderly people to clean the house area.
“We are concerned because most of the elderly here live alone and have no children, so it is quite difficult for them to clean it themselves,” he said when met during the mission yesterday.
Mohamad Nizam also said the cleaning operation involving a total of 30 people for one house is expected to take an hour.
“We will do it all at once so that the cleaning work will be faster. Maybe, for one house, we can accommodate five to 10 members.
“All washing equipment such as pumps and water sprayers have also been brought. The local authorities also brought water tanks to facilitate the cleaning operation,” he said.
On March 8, Mohd Khairuddin informed that the phase two post-flood relief mission in the district will focus on clearing bulk waste dumps from nine settlements that were severely affected by the disaster earlier this month.
He also expressed his willingness to carry out cleaning in the homes of the victims involved, but depending on the need.
