Friday December 3, 2010
18,000 tonnes of garbage collected in post-flood Kedah
ALOR SETAR: The severe flood that hit Kedah last month left behind over 18,000 tonnes of garbage, mostly damaged household items like furniture and electrical appliances. Environment Idaman Sdn Bhd (E-idaman) collected the garbage in the Pokok Sena and Kota Setar (10,000 tonnes), Kubang Pasu (7,800 tonnes) and Padang Terap (1,000 tonnes) districts from Nov 7 until yesterday. Its chief executive officer Mhd Saiful Anuar Zainal said the company rented over 30 vehicles, including more than 20 open tipper trucks and eight back hoes, to collect the garbage.
Flood of garbage: A motorcyclist passing by heaps of rubbish left behind by the floods that hit residents of Taman Tabung Haji, Kepala Batas, Jitra yesterday.
“We rented the vehicles because we did not want to disrupt the daily garbage collection by using our own garbage trucks,” he said in an interview yesterday. He added that all the garbage was sent to the designated garbage dump sites in the districts.
“Although the operation has ended, we are still doing our rounds as we believe there are people who have yet to clear their garbage since the floods receded,” he said.
Mhd Saiful denied that the company had imposed payment for garbage collection during the floods. He urged those who were forced to pay for the service to lodge a report with the company.
