BALIK PULAU – Penang has defended the new rates set by the Seberang Prai City Council (MBSP) amid veiled threats by some 100 waste disposal operators in the state who are planning a strike on December 15.
In support of MBSP, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the new rates are justified as the previous fees were subsidised by ratepayers.
He added that disposal operators are mostly ferrying industrial scheduled waste from factories to the council dump site at the Pulau Burung landfill, off Nibong Tebal, and not household waste.
“We feel it is unfair for ordinary ratepayers to pay for the discarding of industrial waste in their annual assessment fees. It is either for the factory operators, or industrial waste transporters to bear. It is a justified move,” said Chow after opening the district’s digital library space at the Penang Island City Council’s (MBPP) Makerspace facility here.
“By allowing them to dump industrial waste at Pulau Burung, it is cost-saving as well.”
The Environment Department has imposed that they either be dumped in Bukit Nenas (Negri Sembilan), or at Pulau Burung.
“The cost to dump at the southern region is high, so we allow them to discard it at the Pulau Burung landfill despite the uproar.”
Chow said disposal operators are also serving factories in neighbouring Kedah, where they (then) discard waste at Pulau Burung at no additional costs.
“By right, the operators should only be confined to serving factories in Penang, but when they go to Kedah and bring back waste to our landfill, we do not complain.”
Chow has defended the installation of GPS systems in lorries so the authorities can detect their whereabouts to deter illegal dumping activities.
He, however, did not specify how the state would react to the threat of a strike.
Yesterday, it was reported that 100 disposal operators plan to strike in about two weeks, if the city councils do not meet them over the new schedule rates.
Seberang Prai garbage truck drivers’ welfare spokesman Arif Ibrahim, during a brief protest at Komtar yesterday, said the new council rate for transporting waste is burdensome and has adversely affected their business.
“Last April, we were informed by MBSP that the new rate for transporting waste is RM70 per tonne. Previously, the charge for a lorry that can load more than three tonnes of solid waste was only RM180. This translates to an increase of up to 70%.
“So now, we would have to charge higher – between RM400 and RM450, including service charges – for one lorry, and this would definitely affect our business because consumers (factories) would think we are deliberately raising prices,” he said.
The boycott will involve 250 truckers from 50 operators, who own some 100 vehicles.
Meanwhile, MBPP president Datuk Yew Tung Seang has allowed the makerspace facility to be opened every Saturday and Sunday to accommodate students who want to learn about coding and participate in extracurricular activities.
However, participants need to make appointments to use the facility, which now also houses a digital library, due to the health standard operating procedures imposed. – The Vibes, November 27, 2021
