Starting next year all-day eateries in Kajang will have to close at least for two hours for cleaning

The Star, Saturday, 1 October 2016

BY OH ING YEE

FROM Jan 1 next year, all 24-hour eateries within the jurisdiction of the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) will have to close for a minimum of two hours to allow the premises to be cleaned up.

Council president Mohd Sayuthi Bakar said the operators could choose from three time slots — 2am-4am, 3am-5am, or 4am-6am.

There are about 500 such eateries in the municipality.

“We chose to enforce this as we are concerned about cleanliness.

In line with the Selangor state government’s “no polystyrene” ruling beginning next year, the council is not only following suit but also starting it early with council-operated eateries and businesses such as food courts and pasar malam vendors adhering to it from Nov 1.“This does not include 24-hour fast food outlets because they have their own standard operating procedure,” he said.

“There will be no incentive for the food operators because the alternative (eco-friendly packaging) is not burdensome to them,” he said.

Meanwhile, the council has ordered an illegal tyre factory in the Sungai Lalang industrial area in Semenyih to cease operations immediately.

“The effluent was channelled to the river.

“We had sealed the factory and the Department Of Environment will take further action against the wrongdoers,” he said.

Speaking on the council’s 2017 budget, Mohd Sayuthi said, “It is another deficit budget.”

With the estimated expenditure at RM207,247, 972 (of which RM137,349,972 is for management expenses and RM69,898,000 for development purposes) and revenue at RM199,846,972, the council has a deficit of RM74,010,000.

“We use the council’s savings to cover the deficit but in the long run, it is not healthy because eventually the savings will run out.

“We can only be prudent with our usage but there are some areas that we can’t compromise such as waste collection and public cleaning,” he said.

He added that compound notices were not considered a method to increase revenue.

“We do not factor in compound notices as that would be akin to expecting people to flout the law. Our hope is for people to abide by the law,” he said.

When asked if there were plans to increase the assessment tax, he said the council plans to do so as the last increase was in 1985, when the council should review the assessment every five years.

“We have the lowest assessment rates. We also have to find a way to improve our delivery of services and yet reduce cost,” he said.