BY BRENDA CH’NG

StarMetro's report on Sept 7.

THERE is finally an end to the rubbish woes in Ara Damansara as the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) moved in to clean up two major illegal dump sites by the Sungai Kayu Ara riverbank.

Located beneath the bridge along Jalan PJU1A/3 and at the dead end of Jalan PJU1A/7, the dumps had piles and piles of garbage strewn about.

Some of the rubbish had also fallen into the river, and bags of rubbish could be seen floating downstream.

“We cleaned up both areas last week and removed 7.9 tonnes of rubbish from the area,” said MBPJ public relations officer Zainun Zakaria.

She informed StarMetro that the council had previously cleared the two sites a few months ago but the rubbish just kept piling up.

To prevent more rubbish from being dumped, MBPJ’s engineering team has decided to place concrete barriers at both sites to prevent unauthorised access to the open space.

“We hope this concrete barrier will stop lorries from entering to dump rubbish there,” she said.

Zainun added that as much as MBPJ would like to nab those responsible, it was close to an impossible task as the garbage was dumped at irregular times.

During StarMetro’s visit to the dump sites earlier this month, both domestic and construction waste could be seen.

Some spots were even blacked due to the open burning which happens quite often, according to residents living nearby.

There was also a strong stench emanating from the site at Jalan PJU1A/7, where a fresh layer of sand could be seen covering the existing rubbish to make way for a new batch.

Some residents in the vicinity had also resorted to putting up netting in their windows to prevent fruit flies from entering.

This includes residents living in high-rise buildings nearby.

“We will be monitoring these areas very closely from now on to ensure people do not use it as a dump site again.

"Strict action will be taken against those responsible,” Zainun said.