BY GRACE CHEN

Who's in charge: The cleaning of drains in Kuala Lumpur is no longer under the jurisdiction of DBKL as the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 (Act 672) was gazetted on Aug 30, 2007 and enforced since Sept 1, 2011. It is now the responsibility of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Department.

Once a month. That is how frequently drains are cleaned at the moment. It used to be worse, said Tiong Nam Kuala Lumpur Area Traders Association chairman Ang Khoon Lock.

“A year or two ago, it was six months once,” said Ang, who has been making a living as a petty trader in Lorong Haji Taib for 30 years.

The filthy drain issue is as old as the hills. Numerous complaints have been made but nothing much has changed.

Who is responsible?

At a recent dialogue in Kepong between residents and the authorities over a morning open-air market, it was pointed out to a Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) senior assistant director that a coffeeshop was discharging wastewater directly into a drain that was also strewn with rubbish and food waste.

When asked if he could take action, he advised them to refer to the Health and Environmental Department.

A subsequent meeting with officers from this department revealed that they could fine the premises for lack of hygiene.

But they said the actual act of cleaning the drain itself was no longer under the jurisdiction of DBKL since the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 (Act 672) was gazetted on Aug 30, 2007 and enforced on Sept 1, 2011.

The Act states that the responsibilities of collection and disposal of garbage, as well as cleansing of public roads, public places, public toilets and drains are now under Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Department (PPSPPA) which set the cleaning frequency to once a month.

The National Solid Waste Management Policy covers Johor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Pahang, Perlis and Kedah.

But getting to the reality on the ground, SWCorp Federal Territories director Hazilah Gumri said the local authorities should not completely wash their hands of the matter.

“The local authorities have to make sure that the drains are structurally sound, not damaged and are functioning properly before the infrastructure is handed to SWCorp for management.

"They are responsible to ensure that these drains do not become sewers. This is because they have the power to carry out enforcement,” she said.

She said the local government and local councils were most needed when it came to obstacles that could hamper the cleaning process.

“When cars park on the yellow lines in back lanes, the trucks cannot pass through. When shopowners cover their drains, it blocks cleaners from gaining access,” she added.

At present, the major players tasked with the job of cleaning public drains in all six states and two federal territories are Alam Flora, Environment Idaman and SWM Environment.

Is once a month enough?

In the opinion of a member of the public, Abdul Malik Kassim, the drain-cleaning frequency set by PPSPPA may suffice for a quiet residential area but not for a bustling commercial hub.

“Cleaners not only have rubbish to contend with. The run-off from roads in the form of dirt and automobile grease can fill a drain very quickly during heavy rain.

"Imagine the amount of dirt after a month, plus rubbish,” said Abdul Malik, who pointed out that larger amounts of rubbish and sludge meant more complicated logistics arrangements.

“It can also be demoralising for cleaners to go back to a place they have cleaned before, only to find that it has been dirtied again.

“There are days when it looks like the job is a neverending one. But it is not that the cleaners have not done their job. It is because the dirt has piled up again,” he said.

Alam Flora chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zain Hassan said the city would see dramatic results within the short period of a month if cleaning was done on a daily basis.

But it is an exercise that will require added labour, machinery and cost.

In 2012, The Star report said taxpayers forked out more than RM40mil to clean up monsoon drains nationwide.

Kuala Lumpur currently lists an inventory of 4,504km of closed and open drains.

Based on rough estimates of no more than RM5 a metre for drain-cleaning fees using only manual labour, taxpayers would be looking at a bill of RM9mil or more per month.

Addressing the issue

Instead of seeing money go down the drain, there is a way to ensure it is put to better use. We really have to do something about the littering problem.

Residents in Lorong Haji Taib for example, have a habit of throwing rubbish out of their shophouse windows into the drains below.

Alam Flora cleaners know this area to be a hotspot. They wear hard hats when they come here because some of them have been hit by flying rubbish before.

When approached by StarMetro, Ang said the problem was not only with the residents but with the fruit sellers who come to the area in the wee hours of the morning.

"When business was done, they would leave behind a litter of rotten fruits and durian husks.

“This is a job for the authorities. They should be the ones doing the inspections and enforcing the law,” he added.

Ang said petty traders and business owners in the areas would be more than happy to meet up with DBKL and Alam Flora to come up with solutions and organise a community clean-up.

DBKL Health and Environment Department director Dr Hayati Abdullah acknowledged that they had not wielded an iron fist in enforcement.

“We should have nipped the problem in the bud,” she said.

The Star reader Wong Peng Choong, a Malaysian who had formerly worked in the Environment Department in Singapore, wrote to tell us that in the 1970s when preliminary study showed that the Singapore River was declared a dead river due to severe pollution caused by discharge from open drains, the country’s then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew ordered the river cleaned up within 10 years.

“I was then working in this department. Iron-fisted actions and very strict enforcement of anti-pollution laws that required investment in modern sewerage facilities finally resulted in a clean river.

“If someone throws rubbish into the drain, the offender can expect swift punitive action, often hefty fines, restaurant closure or even a custodial sentence!” Wong wrote to StarMetro.