PENANG plans to resolve the escalating costs of managing solid waste within the next five years by applying new technology to treat the growing amount.
Within the next five years, the state will undertake a few initiatives under Act 672 which governs Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007, state executive councillor Jason H'ng Mooi Lye said.
H'ng who oversees the portfolio of Local Government and Town County Planning, said that the state plans to adopt the tech of waste to energy, waste to biomass and recycling to mitigate the rising costs of solid waste management.
There would also be new initiatives to reduce the logistic costs of transporting waste from households to Batu Maung then to the Pulau Burung waste landfill.
H'ng said this after attending the public engagement exercise on local government budgets at the Eastin Hotel.
He said that the state was forced to allocate RM60 million this year to the local government to handle waste disposal.
"If we can save say RM10 million per year, the fiscal amount can go towards building public amenities and to help generate more facilities for the ratepayers."
Another effective mechanism is to encourage ratepayers to reduce solid waste collection and to subscribe to the recycling principles, he said.
H'ng said that the state needs a new approach towards handling solid waste in Penang since the present system is becoming costly and a burden on the landfill.
In another development, H'ng said that the two city councils in the state will strictly enforce the ban on the sale of the eyeball gummy candy after a 10-year-old boy choked while consuming the sweet.
He said that no sale of food is allowed within a 40 meter radius of schools in the country.
"If the schools encounter people selling food near the schools, they must inform the local authorities who would take action immediately," said H'ng.
Mohammad Fahmi Hafiz Mohammad Fakhruddin, passed away in Penang on Thursday after choking on chewy candy.
The incident occurred despite the existence of regulations designed to protect children from food-related hazards, such as the Guidelines on Enforcement of the Ban on Food and Beverage Sales Outside School Gates (Second Edition 2021), which have been in effect since 2012.
H'ng said that the local authorities will also act on those selling food banned by the Health Ministry. - February 23, 2025.
