MB: I want the plastic waste removed
SHAH ALAM: Coordinated enforcement operations against illegal plastic recycling factories are often met with chained gates, but raids must continue so that operators know there is zero tolerance for such activities.
“We have raided about 100 illegal factories and I want to tell future operators that we will not be lax over activities that affect the environment,” Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari told the New Sunday Times.
Amirudin said there was no reason for illegal factories to be set up in Selangor any more, given the freeze on the import of plastic waste and the halt in issuance of licences for recycling factories since July last year.
He has told state Local Government, Public Transportation and New Village Development Committee chairman Ng Sze Han to ensure that there were no illegal plastic recycling factories in the state.
“I want all these illegal factories closed and the plastic waste removed.
“I do not want any more of these harmful activities to exist in Selangor.”
He said about 100 illegal factories sprung up in the span of six to seven months last year when the country was in the 14th General Election mode.
Before May 9, he said, approved permits and licences were issued for the opening of such factories and operators took advantage of the transitional period of the federal and state governments to set up and assemble machinery at their premises.
He said the state government had barred permits or licences from being issued and was determined to put a stop to the illegal activities before they mushroomed again.
Amirudin said landowners who were found to have rented their property to illegal factories were served with Notice 7B, which allowed the state government to confiscate the plot if the plastic waste was not disposed of.
“We have given the warning and stipulated a time frame for the landowners to dispose of the waste. If they fail to do so, we will seize the land based on the existing laws and regulations.
“We are being rational by giving them time to do so. We know it cannot be done in a short time because the amount of plastic waste is huge. This process may take a month or two, at least, to complete.
“But they have to show their commitment to clean up and I hope that they understand and follow the directive. If not, we have no choice but to be hard on the landowners,” said Amirudin.
In a Jan 23 raid at the Telok Gong Industrial Park in Port Klang, Ng issued a warning for land owners to clear their property of plastic waste within two to three months of receiving orders from the authorities.
Landowners who rent their plots to illegal plastic recycling factories must let licensed parties take over the materials to be processed.
The operations saw five illegal plastic-processing factories ordered to be shut down, bringing to 104 the number of premises served with such notices in Selangor.