KUALA LUMPUR: Pusat Bandar Utara (PBU) Selayang has earned the unenviable title of "the dirtiest place in Kuala Lumpur", with more than 16 metric tonnes of rubbish collected each day.
Federal Territories Solid Waste Management and Public Health Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) director, Ummi Kalthum Shuib, said the area, which also houses the Kuala Lumpur Wholesale Market, is categorised as a "dirty area" due to the prevalence of food waste unsold by traders.
"We are undertaking various measures to overcome the issue of food waste, especially those concerning vegetables and fruits which can no longer be sold by traders.
"We work with charity homes by collecting these unsold food items. As for rotten vegetables and fruits, these are collected by a company for composting purposes," she said when met at the Jom Bersih Bukit Bintang programme at the Low Yat Plaza here today.
More than 700 volunteers participated in a 'gotong royong' exercise to clean up Bukit Bintang to ensure that the popular tourist spot is clean and safe for residents and traders.
The programme, the 19th inception since 2012, was done in cooperation with Local Agenda 21 Kuala Lumpur.
Ummi Kalthum said the 16 to 17 metric tonnes of waste collected at PBU would be disposed off at dumpsites. The collection, she said, requires two trips.
"Based on our data, an estimated 2,200 metric tonnes of rubbish are collected each day in Kuala Lumpur for disposal.
"We are now in the process of reducing the amount of waste brought to dumpsites, especially the 45 per cent of food waste, which makes up the largest component of items at the dumpsites.
"This is among the challenges faced by SWCorp. There are still many traders who stubbornly refuse to separate food waste despite the measure being introduced back in 2015," she said.
She said SWCorp also hoped that the public would channel information on those who dump rubbish out of their vehicles.
"The public can record the vehicle registration plates. We will then check through the MySikap database to identify the offenders and take action against them," she said.
Ummi Kalthum said although there are legal provisions which allow them to bring litterbugs to court, SWCorp prefers to adopt another approach, which is by compelling litterbugs to community service.
"Bringing them to court would take time, even with the availability of Act 672 of the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Management Act, which provides for a fine.
"However, we prefer a more effective form of punishment," she said.