BY VINCENT TAN

Mohd Azizi (centre) mingling with traders at the launch of the project.

THE Kelana Jaya Ramadan Bazaar in Jalan SS6/1 has been selected by Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) for its pilot “Sustainable Ramadan Bazaar” project.

Petaling Jaya mayor Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain and Selangor Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment Committee chairman Elizabeth Wong launched the project with the aim of creating a cleaner and more organised market, at the same time lowering waste management and cleaning costs.

As part of the pilot project, four recycling tanks – for wastepaper, plastic, aluminium and food waste – have been placed at the location since June 6 for both traders and customers to throw their trash.

A competition for traders to gather as much used cooking oil is being organised to raise awareness on the detrimental environmental effects of dumping used cooking oil.

“Traders can bring their used oil to the council’s Solid Waste Management Department booth between 4pm and 7pm.

“We will buy it for 80sen per kilogramme,” said Mohd Azizi.

Other initiatives at the bazaar include a “bring your own food container” campaign to reduce the use of polystyrene, where customers who do so will receive a stamp each day.

Those who collect five stamps net a small prize and a chance to win more lucrative prizes in MBPJ’s 10th anniversary lucky draw on June 20.

Wong said the state had allocated a one-time grant of RM10,000 to each local council for the reduction of polystyrene use.

“This is the first time we are allocating funds to help, it is symbolic because each council also has its own funds and its own policies to reduce the usage of polystyrene at bazaars in its jurisdictions,” said Wong.

The state executive councillor also said the state government would be increasing its “no plastic and polystyrene” days from September onwards.

“MBPJ will begin enforcing its ‘no polystyrene’ policy in Petaling Jaya from Sept 1,” said Mohd Azizi.

“There will be a total ban on use of polystyrene in the city and at the same time an increase in recycling activities.

“We will observe the results in stages,” he said.

He also highlighted that the waste generated by the 1,339 bazaar lots throughout the city in 2015 amounted to 181.74 tonnes, an average of 135.75kg of waste for each lot.

Traders have also been advised to be vigilant about the cleanliness of their stalls, as samples from six stalls tested positive for food contamination and were fined.

A total of 530 stalls have been checked so far.