The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| MPS mulls shorter contract period for waste contractors to keep them in line Posted: 02 Feb 2013 03:17 AM PST MPS mulls shorter contract period for waste contractors to keep them in line THE Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) is considering a shorter contract period for rubbish collection contractors in Selayang. At the council's monthly full board meeting, MPS president Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain said the council was considering the move as the current five-year contracts for rubbish collection were too lengthy. "It is too long. If we award the contract for five years, we cannot review or amend it in those five years," he said. He added that the council was considering awarding two-plus-one year contracts in future, after the current batch of contracts expire in 2016. "Usually, we find that three-times-a-week rubbish collection is sufficient," said Mohd Azizi. He added, however, problems could crop up when the contractors did not follow the proper collection times. Mohd Azizi said that since last year, MPS had terminated five contractors from a total of 36 contractors for both rubbish collection and cleaning services in Selayang. "If a contractor does not follow the rules, we will issue them notice to correct their flaws. If they still do not follow, we will continue to issue and after the third notice, we will terminate their contract," he said. He highlighted that MPS spent RM45mil last year on rubbish collection, and this was paid from RM88mil in assessment fees it had collected. "If we increase the collection times, the cost of managing waste will be high and we might need to pay the contractor more but that is the price of more efficient rubbish collection," he said, adding that he estimated a 5% to 10% increase in allocations for rubbish collection. "We expect the cost to go up this year but we have to try to maintain or reduce the cost. It should be around the RM45mil we spent last year," he added. Meanwhile, Mohd Azizi said MPS was considering a shift system for its staff after spending more than RM600,000, although only RM300,000 had been allocated for overtime in their budget last year. "Some people have said the overtime is too high, especially for our enforcement department. We are now trying to find a formula to reduce that number," he said. He added that the enforcement department also needed to be more strict as more illegal cyber cafes, massage parlours and illegal gambling dens were mushrooming in Selayang. Mohd Azizi also said MPS was ready to face the developer of the controversial 29-storey Dolomite Park Avenue condominium in Batu Caves after Selangor government pulled the plug on the controversial high-rise project. "We are now waiting for the report and order from the Selangor State Government. After the state has sent it to us, we will send it to the developer," he said. "If the developer decides to take the matter to court for compensation, we will have to settle it in court," he added. |
| Traders may need to pay more in stall charges next Thaipusam Posted: 02 Feb 2013 03:17 AM PST THE Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) is considering an increase in charges for stalls at Batu Caves for next year's Thaipusam period. This comes after piles of rubbish including mounds of polysterene cups and containers, some with food and drinks still in them, were left behind by visitors in the temple grounds after the celebrations. MPS president Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain said the cost to clean up the area was almost double the charges collected from traders this year. "We allocated RM158,000 to clean up Batu Caves after Thaipusam this year compared to RM80,000 last year. Last year, we only hired the contractor for three days but this year, we had to engage the contractor for five days," he said. He said MPS estimates that the festival this year generated between 430 and 450 tonnes of rubbish, adding that the amount was equivalent to the amount of rubbish collected in the whole of Selayang in one day. "Even after all the charges we collected, we were still not able to break even," he said. He added that there were reports of touts selling stall lots in the temple compound for up to RM2,500 per stall. "If traders are willing to buy a stall for RM2,500, then we have to look at the price we are charging. We might have to increase the charges as we made a loss even after collecting the fees," said Mohd Azizi, explaining that MPS only charged RM200 for a stall. "We also received a lot of comments from visitors saying that there was a lot of rubbish in the temple compound," he added. Mohd Azizi said MPS had no jurisdiction inside the Batu Caves compound, which was under the care of the temple management. "We also need to educate the traders as the cost of cleaning up is too high. We want to recommend to the traders, NGOs and private parties who prepared free food and drinks for the visitors to use materials such as brown paper or banana leaves instead of polysterene to serve the food. This can help the waste management be more efficient," he added. |
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