KOTA KINABALU – Tonnes of used protective gear and other medical waste generated from the Covid-19 pandemic remain exposed to the elements at a medical waste disposal facility, near here, a year after the state government had ordered its sole concessionaire to dispose of those safely.
A check by The Vibes yesterday found that the medical waste remains undisposed at the light industrial estate in Lok Kawi, some 20km from here, where families of factory workers, including children, are apparently also staying inside several factory warehouses built in the vicinity.
A factory worker based at a nearby facility said the biohazard materials have been piling up since last year, and that the waste disposal facility run by a state-appointed concessionaire has been facing issues with disposing all of the hospital waste.
“It’s been there since last year. The pile-up had become so huge and was kept inside containers, to the extent that it once blocked the streets here.
“Then, after they took it out, it has laid exposed like that for many months now,” he told The Vibes on the condition of anonymity.
Sedafiat Sdn Bhd is the sole concessionaire in Sabah in charge of transporting, treating, disposing, and managing the waste from quarantine centres in the state.
A check on the items revealed that some of the medical bags with hospital discards were ripped, exposing the biohazard bags inside.
Further checks revealed that the waste bins where the items were kept before they were eventually sent to the incinerator were also exposed and not properly closed.
In November last year, Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun reportedly said that the concessionaire had been asked to speed up the building of an incinerator and facilitate the export of medical waste to the peninsula pending completion.
A report from the Malay Mail also noted Masidi as saying that the Environment Department had also given permission to the company to send the waste to the peninsula.
It is learnt that the Health Ministry, together with port authorities and the Customs Department, would also facilitate the process.
In a brief response to the latest development, Masidi said that he will investigate the matter further.
The report also noted 13 metric tonnes of wastes were generated each day at the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak in Sabah. – The Vibes, November 14, 2021
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