Thursday, June 12, 2008

Brickbat for Alam Flora

By STAR METRO DEBBIE CHAN

ALAM Flora, the rubbish collection and waste management company, is again in the news for the wrong reason.

It is under fire again, this time by the business community of SS3 in Petaling Jaya, complaining about the alleged unethical practices of its sub-contractors.

According to the SS3 business operators, the workers of the sub-contractors are demanding extra money to clear rubbish in their areas.

“They asked us to pay RM80 each to collect our rubbish, double the RM40 fee charged by Alam Flora,” restaurant owner Loo Yong Wee said.

The business community has approached Kampung Tunku state assemblyman Lau Weng San to help resolve the problem as the repeated complaints to Alam Flora have apparently fallen on deaf ears.

“Alam Flora belongs to the federal government and I think they should take responsibility to train their workers to be more responsible and ethical,” Lau said.

“The workers who are demanding bribes are foreign workers hired by the sub-contractors,” he said.

Loo said he had refused to pay the bribes and had since been disposing his rubbish himself.

“I have two big Alam Flora bins and I am now disposing of the rubbish myself. It's ridiculous,” he said.

According to Lau, rubbish collection has been a big issue in the SS3 area for some time now because the sub-contractors are not doing their job properly.

He said there were piles of rubbish strewn everywhere, especially near the shops and restaurants.

“I have repeatedly asked for an explanation from Alam Flora but have received no reply,” Lau said.

Lau said he did some investigation and had identified the two sub-contractors assigned to the SS3 area as Biopride Sdn Bhd and CityWaste Disposal Sdn Bhd.

“According to the Alam Flora schedule, the sub-contractors are supposed to clean the drains six days a week and collect rubbish on a regular basis,” he said.

Lau also observed that the drains in the area had not been cleaned for several months, resulting in most of them being clogged and smelly.

“I have filed complaints with Alam Flora on behalf of the SS3 business community and have so far only received response on the Gerai Wawasan area,” Lau said.

“I will give the sub-contractors a few weeks to rectify this matter before I raise the matter at the state level,” he said.

Lau pointed out that Alam Flora had the responsibility to ensure the community was given quality service in rubbish management.

“If the local councils are paying the company to do the job, then it is expected to do a good job or its contract should be reviewed,” Lau said.

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