To clarify (arising from the newspaper article below), all commercial and industrial lots, or businesses, are required to dispose of their waste at their cost. This has been the practice even before Pakatan Rakyat took over. In fact, the MPSJ bylaw on the matter can be seen in Section 12, Undang-Undang Kecil Pemungutan pembuangan dan pelupusan Sampah 2007, available here:
http://ocps.mpsj.gov.my/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.document.Document_168b2f0d-a020f414-12146260-6562edb8

I find it ironic that 2 former councillors, Dr Kow & Mr Lee who were sitting councillors who approved this bylaw in 2007, are now raising fuss over the matter. If the insist on holding such press conferences, they should first apologize for their "error" in approving the by law.

As for the business owners, they are free to engage any waste management company for this purpose, including but not limited  to contractors hired by MPSJ for waste collection.


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Garbage contractors from MPSJ charging more for extra bags collected
Story and photo by CHARLES FERNANDEZ
metro@thestar.com.my

THE Kinrara and Kelana Jaya MCA branches want the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) to be clear on the guidelines for garbage collectors.

The contractors are asking food operators in these areas to pay for extra load of garbage collected as they claim they are only supposed to collect five bags of garbage per day and anything more is subjected to a fee of between RM100 to RM200 per month.

“The maximum bags collected per day is five irrespective of its size and contractors are demanding for extra fee and this has caused uncollected bags to accumulate,” said Selangor MCA Youth chief Dr Kow Cheong Wei.

He said the garbage collectors are also choosy as only recyclable items are collected while bags of domestic waste are left behind.


Different sizes: Dr. Kow (third from left), Lee (second from left), MCA Youth Puchong division chairman Lee Sau Peng (first from right) and other local MCA representatives showing the different bag sizes used by food operators for their domestic waste disposal in Jalan Kenari, Puchong.
Dr Kow, who is also former Kinrara assemblyman, added that this problem started in August after MPSJ councillor Loka Ng issued a statement that all business licence holders are responsible for getting rid of their rubbish.

“We demand to know from the councilor which bylaw he is referring to. Contractors are paid a fee and their responsibility is to collect garbage and not restrict to the number of bags to be collected each day.

Food operators in Jalan Kenari, Puchong, are upset with Ng for stating that this ruling is part of the licence requirements and that the former can engage their own contractors to collect the garbage if they felt the fee is too high.

One food operator who requested anonymity said the garbage collectors are carrying the newspaper cuttings with them on their rounds to state their claim and this has resulted in unnecessary confrontations.

Ng had said that the contractors had only limited capacity in their compactors and if they had to take away more than the set limit for each restaurant, they would not be able to cater to other businesses in a commercial area.

“If that is the case, recyclable items should not be counted as one of the five bags set for each restaurant. Even then this guideline should not be applicable as the garbage contractors have a moral responsibility to clear domestic waste,” added Dr Kow.

Dr. Kow said he had sent a letter to MPSJ after Ng made his comments during a meeting with residents of Jalan Tempua and have yet to hear from them.

Meanwhile, Kelana Jaya MCA Youth chairman Lee You Hin said MPSJ must come clear on the limitation of bags, the size of the bags and if the bags with recyclable items are considered as one of the bags in the five-bag limit.

Food operator Demetrius Lee Chun who operates the Destiny Garden restaurant in Jalan Kenari said the comment by the councilor has only worsened matters and urged MPSJ to come out with an official statement to solve the problem.

For routine waste collection:

1. Domestic waste - this is household waste generated daily, such as kitchen waste, etc that is placed inside your dustbin. This is collected 3 times a week, some areas Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and other areas Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.
   
2. Garden Waste, which is maintenance waste, such as grass cuttings, leaves, twigs - twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
   

Waste not included above are considered bulk waste, such as

1. Furniture,
2. Electrical appliances
3. Tree trunks / branches
4. other large objects

These are not collected by the routine collection, but by specific appointment. To have bulk waste collected, please contact MPSJ at 03-80267433. An appointment will be set to collect the waste from your house, at a charge of RM50 (this charge is the same since the days of Alam Flora).

Please help do your part to create a cleaner Subang Jaya. Thank you.

The reason I proposed this was to make it easy and popular for residents to call MPSJ on disposing of bulky waste, rather that illegally dumping them by the padang or street corners.

Since less than 10 people call every month, the amount that we raise from this exercise is virtually nothing. And we still have to spend on collecting it from the dumping spots.

Since we are not earning anything much, its better we just waive this fee, to reward the responsible citizens of Subang Jaya, and to encourage more to call, instead of illegally dumping.

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Published: Fri, 04 Nov 2011

SUBANG JAYA: A proposal for the municipality to provide free bulk waste collection in a bid to stop illegal dumping was shot down by Datuk Asmawi Kasbi.

“We cannot do it for free as there are still expenses to pay, like transportation. Residents who want their bulk waste collected will have to pay RM60,” said Subang Jaya Municipality (MPSJ) president.

The idea was raised by MPSJ councillor R Rajiv, during the council full board meeting on Monday.

Rajiv said that the free service would stop the public from dumping their waste along streets and empty plots of land.

Bulk waste, which includes refrigerators, sofa sets and other big items, will only be collected by the council if residents call MPSJ and request for a pickup.

“If we charge, very few people will call. But if its free, I’m sure many people will call the council to collect it from their homes,” said Rajiv.

Currently, only a handful of residents are paying for bulk waste collection while the majority are dumping it illegally, hoping it will be collected in a few weeks.

He said MPSJ should make it free for now to cultivate the habit of calling the council’s bulk waste collection hotline whenever they want to get rid of things.

“If we don’t do this, there will just be more and more illegal dumping happening in Subang Jaya, creating an eyesore for the community,” said Rajiv.

But Asmawi explained that MPSJ has other plans to tackle bulk waste collection.

“We will be placing Roro (Roll-on/ Roll-of) bins at areas with the most bulk waste disposal all around MPSJ, and people can dump their unwanted things there,” he said.

Starting next year, these Roro bins will be placed where they are needed, according to a schedule, and MPSJ will haul away the bulk waste for free.

Residents will be notified by the council on when and where the bins are placed in their areas.

MPSJ is currently identifying areas and drawing a schedule to cater to those living in Sri Kembangan, Subang, Sri Serdang and Puchong.

Signalling to MPSJ Enforcement that illegal dumpers can be traced and can be caught. We need to start enforcing to produce good behavior.



Published: Fri, 21 Oct 2011

SUBANG JAYA: Homeowners who unwittingly left their addresses in piles of trash got a visit from an irate Hannah Yeoh last Saturday.

The Subang Jaya assemblyperson, accompanied by Subang Jaya Municipal councillors Dr Loi Kheng Min and Rajiv Rishyakaran, decided to confront the culprits in an effort to curb the irresponsible behaviour.

The culprits were identified by addresses on letters and receipts found in garbage bags tossed on sidewalks in SS18 and SS19.

The man who greeted them at the first house was confused and then embarrassed when told of the purpose of their visit.

“I didn’t even know about this, it was probably my wife. I am really sorry, I will talk to her,” said the man.

However, the next visit was less successful because the residents refused to answer the door.

Undeterred, they called the house using the phone number on a receipt found a few streets away, but were told that the people responsible for dumping the trash had all recently passed away.

“It seems that a call from us was like a call to heaven,” said Rajiv.

He pointed out that illegal dumping was due to the lack of civic-mindedness by sections of the community and not because of lack of action by MPSJ.

“If you doubt they are doing their job, come to me; I want everyone, especially the residents, to play their part in solving this issue,” he said.

Yeoh said she hoped the culprits realise that their actions affect the whole community.
“Confronting them will make them think twice,” she said.

Your rubbish, your bin!

TH TEOH

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 12:00:00

IRRESPONSIBLE: Hannah, Loi and Rajiv inspecting an illegal dumpsite in SS14

SUBANG JAYA: Pack it. Wrap it. Dump it in your bin.

That's what you do with your rubbish. Stop the habit of dumping rubbish by the road shoulders or anywhere else except in your own rubbish bins, so said Subang Jaya assemblyman, Hannah Yeoh.

Yeoh said indiscriminate rubbish dumping had come to the point where no neighbourhood in Subang Jaya was spared the ugly sight of rubbish piles by road shoulders.

"Illegal dumping by residents is one of the main contributing factors we face these days and it's not just about inefficient garbage collection by MPSJ contractors," she said.

"During a spot check with MPSJ councillors Dr K.M. Loi and R. Rajiv in SS14 and SS18, we went through a pile of rubbish and found the details and address of the culprit.

"We took a drive to the house and confronted him. This exercise actually puts a face to the act of dumping rubbish illegally. These acts are done by our own residents, our own neighbours.

"My plea to Subang Jaya residents, don't just take care of your own backyard. Please think of the community as a whole."

Yeoh said there was no reason why rubbish disposed off in bins right in front of homes would not be collected.

"There is no reason for you to dump your rubbish one or two rows away from your street. That's a nuisance to the people around you," she said.

Yeoh hoped everyone would play their part. "MPSJ must also go down to the ground to conduct spot-checks."

She said excuses by the council that it was unable to trace and compound the culprits were not true. If the council searched hard enough, it would be able to identify the culprits and nip the cause in the bud.

I had proposed is the recent full board meeting that MPSJ abolishes the fee from collecting bulky waste from homes. Currently, for disposing sofas, mattresses, etc, a fee of RM60 is imposed when you call MPSJ to come pick it up from your house.

Since the majority of residents don't call anyways (less than 100/yr), I think its pointless to collect the fee, penalizing the few who dispose of these bulky waste responsibly, unlike most who seem to enjoy dragging it out to street corners.

Since revenue loss will not be much, I hope this measure, if approved, will help reduce the incidences of roadside dumping.

While the proposal was not adopted in the last full board meeting, I hope my fellow councillors will give it some consideration, and that it will be approved soon.

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MPSJ acts on improving bulk waste collection

By S. PUSPADEVI
puspa@thestar.com.my

THE Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) has set up a task force comprising five teams to handle bulk waste collection.

MPSJ president Datuk Asmawi Kasbi said the task force had begun collecting bulk waste since numerous complaints arose from the public.

Since the beginning of its operations, Asmawi said the council had received a total of 102 complaints regarding uncollected bulk waste in October compared with 106 in the previous month.

“The number of complaints have reduced. We will come up with a fixed schedule and inform residential areas on the specific days and designated areas for bulk waste collection,” said Asmawi, adding that Subang Jaya is the highest on the list in terms of bulk waste collection.

“The task force has until December to compile the data and statistics on bulk waste collection in Subang Jaya,” he said, adding that the collection will be carried out twice a month.

He said since Alam Flora Sdn Bhd had ceased providing garbage collection and cleaning services in Selangor on Oct 16, the number of complaints for domestic waste collection had also reduced to 89 in October compared with 124 in August.

He said the council had no plans to increase the number of contractors for garbage collection services but assured that the council would monitor their progress from time to time.

At present, the council has 71 contractors assigned to garbage collection services in Subang Jaya.

Garbage is collected three times a week for residential areas and playgrounds, six times a week for high-rise buildings, commercial areas and industrial areas, and daily for wet markets.

http://streets.nst.com.my/Current_News/Streets/Wednesday/Stories/20100127002133/Article/index_html