Lorries dumping damaged household items and parts of uprooted trees at the Jelutong landfill. —Photo: ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star

SOME 85 tonnes of trash comprising damaged household items and uprooted trees were collected from around Penang island following the massive floods last week.

Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Maimunah Mohd Sharif said they were collected between Friday and Sunday and the total weight could still go up as the clearing up was ongoing.

“The bulk of the trash came from the flood areas. We mainly concentrated on the roads as we wanted traffic to be smooth after the flash floods.

“The clearing up is expected to be completed by tomorrow (today),” she told reporters while visiting Sungai Pinang with state Town and Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo yesterday.

Maimunah added that council workers had been working hard to clear the island’s low-lying areas of trash after the floods.

“Luckily, the weather improved and this made the clearing up much easier. We have yet to determine the losses caused by the floods.”

On Friday, Kedah, Perlis and Penang were hit by a downpour that the tailwind of Typhoon Doksuri brought, which lasted from Thursday night until evening the next day.

There was massive floodings, landslides, the death of a woman motorcyclist and widespread traffic chaos in Penang.