Ministry takes over management of solid waste transfer station in Selangor

The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry will take over the management of the Solid Waste Transfer Station in Section 21, Shah Alam, following the failure of the Selangor government to manage it well.

Its minister Noh Omar said the ministry had to spend about RM20 million to repair the premises, besides incurring losses due to missing prime movers, trailers and other equipment.

"The management of the transfer station was previously handed over to the state government in a five-year contract ending May 21. When the contract expired, we saw that they did not meet the terms of the agreement, such as failing to submit reports to us and the upkeep of the area was also unsatisfactory.

"Enough is enough ... so we have decided to discontinue the contract and let the ministry manage it in our own way. The are many items which are missing as well, such as prime movers –  of the 11 units we had given, five are lost," he told reporters after visiting the transfer station today.

Also present were the ministry’s deputy secretary-general Halimi Abd Manaf and Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management (SWCorp) chief executive officer Zulkapli Mohamed.

Noh said the transfer station was built by the federal government in 2007 at a cost of RM77 million when the Selangor government was under Barisan Nasional rule, and when the station was completed in 2008, Selangor had fallen into the opposition’s hands.

He said the federal government then held talks with the new state government for the transfer station to be handed over to the former, as the premises had been gazetted as a solid waste site, and it would also help the state government manage waste-related problems.

However, he said, the new state government did not agree to hand over the transfer station site to the federal government, and after almost four years of discussions, the state government only agreed for the site to be leased to the federal government for 21 years (the lease period expires in 2032) at a premium of RM221,000.

Meanwhile, the solid waste management was handed over to the state government, which then appointed a company as the operator of the transfer station, he said.

"The state government has profited about RM50 million while managing the transfer station, but management is not good. So, why should we continue (the contract)? When we did not continue the contract, the company was dissatisfied and challenged our decision in court to bar us from entering this area, and for them to continue operations.

"Alhamdulillah (Thank God), on July 20, the High Court rejected the company's application, and it is now our responsibility to help manage waste better in Selangor, because we know there are many complaints related to waste management in the state.

-- Bernama