Foul condition: Anilan (left) and Alumni Association chairman N. Selvaraju checking out the plastic bottles piled up behind the school beside Sungai Pinang in George Town. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: Some irresponsible people have set up a “makeshift” recycling centre behind a Tamil primary school to collect recyclable waste trapped by a trash boom across a river.
The mounds of collected waste have created a mosquito breeding site that has plagued the school children of SJK(T) Ramathasar for years, on top of the foul smell.
Sungai Pinang flows through much of this densely populated city here and the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) laid a trash boom across the river to block floating waste thrown by litterbugs from flowing out to sea.
A contractor is paid to collect the flotsam and send it to the landfill.
But some people have been gathering all kinds of waste and leaving them there in mounds along the rear wall of SJK(T) Ramathasar for weeks until they collect enough to be sold to recyclers.
Cycle Trend Industries managing director Datuk Philip Kang Chun Keong said that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastics are highly recyclable and enjoy good demand.
“The resale price of used PET bottles can fetch between 60sen and RM1 per kg, while HDPE plastics are worth 80sen to over RM1 per kg, depending on the condition of the waste,” he said.
A check on The Star’s photographs archive of the Sungai Pinang rubbish boom shows this has started at least since 2022.
The school’s Parent-Teacher Association chairman S. Anilan is pleading with authorities to stop the scavenging mess.
“It is good that they collect recyclable waste off the river, but it is not done the right way.
“They leave the recyclable waste along our school’s rear wall for weeks or even months till they collect enough to sell. The waste collects rainwater and aedes mosquitoes will breed there.
“It creates a health hazard for the whole neighbourhood and our children are particularly in danger,” he said yesterday.
The school’s board of governors chairman Datuk P. Murugiah said the school security guards have reported seeing unknown people going to the riverside at night with torchlights to rummage through the collected rubbish for recyclable waste.
“We are gathering funds to instal 24/7 security cameras focusing on the school’s rear wall for our children’s safety and to help the authorities identify who is doing this,” he said.
Murugiah, who is also Penang Hindu Association president, said the mounds of recyclable waste have also become nesting grounds for rats.
Penang DID assistant engineer Azhar Abdul Shukor, who went to the riverside yesterday, said warnings will be issued to the contractor to improve the collection procedures.
“About a tonne of river rubbish is collected from the boom every day.
“The workers must leave the wet rubbish on the river’s reserve land for it to drain to prevent leachate from spilling onto roads during transport,” he said.
He said the collected garbage must be cleared every two to three days, but unfortunately, this is not done frequently.
Azhar said the contractor should improve its current practice while the department planned to relocate the log boom away from the Tamil primary school, which is planned for 2027.
Sungai Pinang assemblyman Lim Siew Khim said while segregating recyclable waste out of the river’s flotsam is a good initiative, the methods employed are wrong.
“The authorities gated up the river access but scavengers found ways around it.
“And frankly, the source of this problem comes from litterbugs upriver, causing those downriver to suffer,” she said when visiting the area.
Penang Island City Council’s (MBPP) councillor Nicholas Theng said MBPP plans to set up security cameras and will meet with DID officials to discuss solutions.
“If DID’s contractor violated their terms, MBPP may issue compounds against them,” he said.
