IPOH: A meeting between the Perak government and Majuperak Holding will be held to discuss the waste-collection problems in several districts in the state, says Datuk Saarani Mohamad.

       The Perak Mentri Besar said he had received several complaints in Ipoh and Taiping where rubbish was not collected for more than a week.

       “Upon checking, I was told that there are two reasons why the rubbish was not collected according to the schedule.

       “The first one is due to the increase of rubbish during Hari Raya Aidilfitri and the other was the lack of workers available. Several workers were brought from different places to the affected area to solve the issue,” he said during a press conference at the Stadium Indera Mulia here on Tuesday (May 10).

       On May 9, a Twitter user under the name @riesna_zasly claimed that the rubbish in Silibin and Manjoi, Ipoh has not been collected for more than two weeks.

       Saarani said the state would also review Majuperak Holding’s wholly-owned unit Majuperak Utilities Management Sdn Bhd's performance.

       “If I am not mistaken, Majuperak Utilities Management signed a two-year contract with several local governments (PBT) to handle the rubbish collection, and the contract is scheduled to end by this November.

       “Some people are blaming the local councils such as Ipoh City Council on the rubbish issue when the responsibility falls under Majuperak.

       “Therefore we will hold a meeting with the company to advise their unit and if they continue to underperform, we will check for a clause in the contract to see if we can terminate their service,” he said.

       He added that the issue also impacts the health of the public.

       “It is definitely not pleasing to the eyes to see all the rubbish not collected and that can also lead to pesticides and insects which may harm the public.

       “This is a matter of public health and the state government will not take this lightly,” he said.