Stern action against scrap metal operator

The Star, Tuesday February 26, 2013

By SCOTT LEE
metro@thestar.com.my

Taking them away: Enforcement officers confiscating waste disposal bins at a scrap metal centre in Taman Ehsan Impian.

 

RECYCLING is highly promoted as long as it was done in a proper way, so last week Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) councillor Eddie Ng Tien Chee sent out an enforcement team to confiscate three waste disposal bins from a scrap metal operator in Taman Ehsan Impian.

Ng said according to the state government, all the scrap metal centres must only be allowed in industrial areas.

In this case, he said the operator rented only one lot in Jalan Desa Ria 9 but had stored scrap metal by the roadside and on a piece of vacant land belonging to the government.

“The land was allocated for either a surau or hawker stalls,” said Ng.

However, he said the Selangor Islamic Depart-ment did not want to build a surau there anymore because the site was no longer suitable.

“The air is filled with stench from rubbish thrown by business operators and it has become a breeding place for mosquitoes,” he added.

Ng said the mounds of rubbish at the illegal dumpsite had caught fire last year and the blaze almost spread to nearby shoplots.

“MPKj confiscated one of the waste disposal bins from the scrap metal operator two days before Chinese New Year.

“The operator promised to clear the place but nothing much has been done to-date. Hence, the council is taking away these bins now,” he said.

He added that the scrap metal operator was moving to Taming Industrial Park by this Sunday and the bins would be returned after paying a fine of RM1,000 for each bin, provided that MPKj was satisfied with the clean-up at the current site.

MPKj enforcement director Shariman Mohd Nor said the council would give the operator four days to clean up the piece of government land or it would be barred from retrieving its scrap metal.