IPOH, July 23 — Perak Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Abdul Manaf Hashim today said that there is no agreement between the state government and Mainiza Teknitek Recowaste Sdn Bhd (MTR) to handle waste management throughout the state.

He said that there was only a discussion between state-owned Majuperak Holdings Bhd (MHB) and all the local councils (Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan) on the suggestion to privatise the state’s waste management.

“The state did not sign the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007, (Act 672), which deals with matters relating to the management of solid waste and public cleansing.

“When there is no agreement signed under the Act, then there will be no financial allocation from the federal government to help solve the waste management problem,” he told reporters after chairing the committee’s meeting today at the State Secretariat Building here.

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“Without the allocation, how is the state government going to pay for a private company to manage the waste?” he asked.

However, Abdul Manaf said that those local councils capable of hiring a private company to manage the waste can do so without help from the state government.

On June 24, Perak Opposition leader Abdul Aziz Bari slammed the state government for its decision to privatise waste management without an open tender.

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He said that many local government staff, who provide the cleaning service, will lose their jobs and service charges for cleaning might inevitably increase and burden the public further as he claimed the privatisation concession is a monopoly in nature.

Meanwhile, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said the decision to privatise waste management throughout the state was made by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government last year.

Ahmad Faizal said that the current Perikatan Nasional (PN) government was just seeing the decision through.

However, Aziz Bari denied this, saying that the state executive council had not met specifically to discuss privatising waste management in Perak last year as claimed by Ahmad Faizal.

“No way we would have done that. It is against our policy and manifesto,” said the Tebing Tinggi assemblyman who had formerly chaired the state Education, Technology, Science and Environment Committee.

Meanwhile, Amanah leader Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin challenged Ahmad Faizal to disclose the exco meeting minutes to prove if the then state PH government had approved the privatisation.

“If it is true that the decision was made by all PH exco members, then we urge Ahmad Faizal to reveal the minutes of the exco meeting in which the matter was supposedly discussed,” said Nizar who is the former state Investment, Industry and Regional Development Committee chairman.