PETALING JAYA, Sept 7 ― Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and various movement orders put in place, life still has to go on.
There are jobs to be done and among them is the essential service of garbage collection.
In Selangor, KDEB Waste Management (KDEBWM) is in charge of this.
Its managing director Ramli Mohd Tahir said the pandemic has not affected the demand for garbage collection as many people have reached out to KDEBWM even during the lockdown.
Selangor has a population of 6.5 million people.
“The demand for the service among the public for trash collection and public cleaning operations, including bulk waste collection, stays constant even during the pandemic,” he said.
“Since the MCO, there has been an increase in waste generation in residential areas and this is of course due to people being instructed to stay at home during this period.”
There have been 11,628 complaints have been lodged through the iClean Selangor app from January until May 2021,
Out of the total complaints, 2,167 complaints were for domestic collection and 8,623 complaints on public cleaning.
He said the level of engagement with the Selangor community for its services remained the same despite the high number of cases.
He told Malay Mail that KDEBWM was keen to take charge of the cleanliness in Selangor despite the risk of its staff getting infected.
“Forty of our staff and subsidiary companies have been infected and two of them passed away due to Covid-19.
“Three hundred crew members, including site supervisors, drivers and those doing collection chave been infected and six of them passed away due to Covid-19.”
However, he said that his employees understood their responsibilities and the necessity to observe the stipulated Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) set by the government.
“All our staff are aware of our responsibilities, and I am thankful to every one of them.
“All staff are provided with personal protective equipment such as hand sanitisers, gloves and face masks while carrying out their tasks to prevent the spread of Covid-19.”
He said that the goal of creating the iClean Selangor app was to handle garbage collection concerns in a more efficient way and also to create a platform for Selangorians to lodge complaints on household waste collection and public cleansing services.
“People of Selangor may at any point of time lodge complaints via this smart application,” he said.
He encouraged the public to make use of the facilities including moving bulky items such as furniture, closets and sofas by installing the app on their devices.
Ramli also urged the public to be responsible while discarding their waste to ensure the safety of everyone from getting infected by the contagious coronavirus.
“Please manage your waste well by putting it in the rubbish bin outside the house by early morning so that we can collect your waste accordingly,” he said.
He also advised those individuals who lost their jobs during the Covid-19 recovery battle to jump into the recycling sector.
“Believe in the fact that waste is not dirty but waste is money,” he said.
It is the largest waste collector in the country and collects 7,000 tonnes per day.
Steps to install iClean Selangor:
