Ahmad (seated, centre) with the council staff and councillors at the press conference.
KUCHING: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) will enforce the ban on using styrofoam for food and drink packaging next year and will set up a team to work with the council’s enforcement and medical officers on this.
MPP deputy chairman Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim said the council had decided to enforce the ban to minimise environmental pollution and because of its hazardous effect on human health, which can cause cancer.
“Starting from next year, the council will ban the use of styrofoam for food and drink packaging in its areas of jurisdiction, and to enforce the policy the council will set up a working team.
“The team will work together with the enforcement and medical officers to inspect coffee shops to ensure that the owners will no longer use styrofoam,” he told reporters yesterday at MPP office after the full council meeting.
Ahmad said the council was very serious in implementing the ban and hoped that coffee shops owners would respect and abide by the decision.
He warned that action would be taken against coffee shops owners who disobey the ruling.
Apart from the ban on styrofoam, Ahmad also said the council would carry out a campaign next year on reducing the use of plastic bags.
On another note, Ahmad said the council from next year would only allow main contractors to carry out its projects and would no longer allow the main contractors to subcontract jobs to other contractors. He said main contractors found flouting the rule risk being punished.
“From next year, the contractors who are awarded tender from MPP will have to make a statutory declaration whether they are involved in any other projects,” he pointed out.
According to him, the council has to take such actions after receiving several complaints from the public that some projects were delayed because of ‘Ali Baba’ (main contractors not doing the job themselves). He also said MPP contractors would have to provide reference from Public Works Department (JKR) and other local councils to enable MPP to know their competency in completing projects.
Ahmad also told reporters that the council was allocated RM49 million this year for 220 projects, of which 131 had been completed and 89 were in various stages of implementation and planning.
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