Penang mulls ending concession contract of Pulau Burung landfill operator

GEORGE TOWN, Feb 24 — The Penang state government may not extend the concession contract of the Pulau Burung landfill operator when its contract ends on April 5.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state exco had discussed the extension of the contract after scrutinising reports on the operator’s performance and the recent incident when the landfill caught fire.

He said the local government and Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) had also tabled a report on the fire and the operator’s performance to the state exco.

“We will study the details of the contract which ends on April 5 and decide on the termination of the contract when it expires,” he said during a press conference at his office in Komtar.

He said MBSP will be preparing a timeline for when the contract ends so that the city council could take over the operations of the landfill in the interim if the operator is terminated.

“MBSP will operate the landfill until a new company with new technology to better manage the landfill is appointed,” he said.

He added that a notice will be issued to the current landfill operator to inform them of the state’s decision once it is finalised.

The operator was awarded the concession contract to manage Pulau Burung landfill in 2012.

On the status of the fire at the landfill, Chow said the blaze was completely extinguished and the air quality in the surrounding areas has improved tremendously with less smoke.

He said earth reclamation works are still being conducted at the site.

More than 11ha of the nearly 33ha Pulau Burung landfill caught fire on January 12.

It took the Fire and Rescue Department, along with assistance from various government agencies, about three weeks to put out the blaze.

The fire fighting operations at the landfill ended on January 31 while follow-up action such as monitoring the site, disaster management and monitoring of the air quality continued after that.