The Penang government has already officially opposed the planned federalisation of solid waste management, months before yesterday’s tabling of the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP).

dap counter zahrain 300110 chow kon yeow State executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow ( right ) said the state had written to the Housing and Local Government minister earlier this year to request that their local councils remain in charge of the public service.

“We sent in the letter sometime in January or February this year. We also indicated that we wanted to apply for the permit to run the service,” he said when contacted yesterday.

The federalisation of solid waste management was gazetted in August 2007 after Parliament passed the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Act 2007.

Under the act, only entities that have been issued a permit by the ministry are authorised to collect garbage and manage solid waste in all states in Peninsular Malaysia and the federal territories of Putrajaya and Labuan.

Implementation put on backburner

Its blanket implementation however was put on the backburner due to the privatisation process which has yet to be finalised , according to a Bernama report in late December last year.

The push for federalisation gained momentum after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak unveiled the 10MP yesterday, which emphasised centralisation of solid waste management, among other public services.

But until the federal government enforces the act, Chow said the local councils under the Penang government will continue to manage solid waste as usual.

He noted that when it comes into force they will then apply for the permits, which he said is open to any entity including local councils.

Chow said the state government is opposed to the federalisation plan as there is no guarantee that the move will help improve or even maintain standards.

pas forum 170609 liew chin tong 02 “The appointed concessionaire has not proven itself, looking at Kedah where it has already been privatised. The people will only suffer,” he said.

Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong, ( left ) who is also executive director of state think tank Socio-Economic and Environmental Research Institute, pointed out that the federalisation plan contradicts the promises made under the New Economic Model (NEM).

He said Najib, when unveiling his NEM last March, indicated that the government would push for decentralisation to give wider powers to local councils.