BY PRIYA MENON

WASTE management contractors in Shah Alam are perplexed by a new charge imposed on them to be in the Shah Alam City Council’s (MBSA) industrial waste panel members list.

A sudden meeting was called on Wednesday for selected contractors who have been collecting industrial waste in Shah Alam for a number of years.

They were briefed on the history of the industry in Shah Alam and Selangor and told about the new RM360 fee.

Most were surprised there were no documents or announcements by MBSA prior to the meeting on the surcharge.

In fact only 40% of the 135 names listed turned up for the meeting as most were unaware about it. Many did not receive the invitation for the meeting and only knew about it after fellow contractors called them on spotting their names on the list.

Company operations manager T. Cecilia, who rushed to the MBSA headquarters in Section 14, Shah Alam on being told by a friend was surprised that they would have to pay RM360 instead of the RM60 they paid each year.

“First of all, we had no idea the meeting was called and when we got there, we were told there was a six-fold ncrease.

“When we asked about it, the officers told us to attend another meeting on Friday to air our grievances,” she added.

Cecilia said the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) had initiated a similar process two years ago to appoint a panel of waste contractors for the commercial areas, but no extra fee was imposed.

Business owners, she said, had to appoint someone from the list of panels to conduct proper waste disposal in order to renew their licences each year.

Their queries, added Cecilia, was to ensure the council justified its action and was not to point fingers unnecessarily.

Employee Siti Fauziah, who declined to name her company, said it was among the few which received the letter on time.

She was unsure if the RM360 was an additional cost to the yearly RM60 the company paid or was an increase.

“The RM60 is for the operating licence, so we do not know what the RM360 is for. MBSA also said it wanted to create zones to limit types of businesses to certain areas,” she stressed.

The commercial waste management collection, she added, was a free market for them and limiting them would mean limiting their business area as well.

She said although she understood the council’s aim to reduce illegal dumping, there were other methods to carry out enforcement.

“Right now, everything is very sketchy. We do not have answers to our questions. Zoning will only increase monopoly. This is not the way to do it,” Siti added.

MBSA corporate communications head Shahrin Ahmad said the new panel list was part of the council’s efforts to improve the waste collection method in the area in a systematic manner.

“Through this system, MBSA will divide the areas into zones based on the density of the industrial areas,” said Shahrin.

He said factories could choose from the list of panel contractors within their zones.

The contractors, he added, would be required to send in a report every month to MBSA on the weight of the garbage collected from the factories, as well as proof of disposal of the garbage at the designated landfill.

“MBSA is looking at proactive ways to tackle industrial waste to minimise illegal dumping,” he added.

In addition to the selection of the panel list, MBSA had also set up an action committee to tackle illegal dumpsite issues and the setting up of mobile CCTVs to detect illegal dumping for legal action.

When asked about the RM360 fee, Shahrin said it was the licence fee for industrial waste that was increased earlier.