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PETALING JAYA: No exclusive rights have been granted to any of the waste facilities designated to handle scheduled waste disposal (SW) in the country, says the Department of the Environment (DOE).
Managing Director Norlin Jaafar (Photo) said, in a statement on Monday (September 7), that the department had issued licenses for the buyback, management, and scheduled disposal of SW to 406 licensed SW facilities and 343 SW carriers across the country to ensure that the management and disposal of said waste remained in force and adhered to the Environmental Quality Law of 1974.
“The department is not involved in charging any costs. The costs charged to the SW producer are determined by the designated authorized waste facility,” it said in a statement on Monday (September 7).
He was responding to a viral message that accused the Government of awarding exclusive contracts to a few companies to charge SW.
In a viral Facebook post, a social media user alleged that approved contractors are charging high fees to collect SW.
Norlin said that for planned waste management in the country, all industries and sources that produce SW must manage it effectively in terms of notification, waste information, storage, labeling, inventory, and SW movement information.
“All of this must be logged into the system or via eSWIS (Electronic Scheduled Waste System) in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Waste) Regulations 2005,” he said.
It added that the exclusive rights to manage the scheduled waste had been granted by the government for the operation of a centralized integrated scheduled waste management center.
Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd had been licensed for a period of 15 years from March 1, 2000 to February 28, 2015.
“In this regard, the government plans to build five integrated waste management facilities in Johor, Perak, Terengganu, Sabah and Penang, to ensure better SW management,” he said.
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