PJ mayor says storm generated 28 tonnes of waste
Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has cleared 28 tonnes of waste, mostly broken branches and tree trunks, following Saturday’s storm.

The cleanup process cost RM150,000, according to Petaling Jaya mayor Mohamad Zahri Samingon.

The city council also received 98 complaints related to the storm and acted swiftly, Zahri said at MBPJ’s full board meeting yesterday.

“Areas that were most affected were Sections 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, Jalan Gasing and SS2.

“We recorded 96 cases of fallen trees in public spaces and two cases of trees that fell into private properties. There were 230 trees with broken branches.”

“The council’s Skuad Pantas worked with the police, Fire and Rescue Department and Civil Defence Force. Clearing works are still ongoing and will take a week,” he said.

According to Zahri, some 100 MBPJ staff were involved in the cleanup.

Yesterday, the mayor also visited two schools that were badly hit by the storm, SMK Sultan Abdul Samad and SK Petaling Jaya.

“We saw damaged school roofs. I am planning with my department head on how we can help,” he said.

“We will also review the council’s Standard Operating Procedures for tree maintenance to be better prepared for the future.”

During the meeting, it was announced that MBPJ carried out maintenance work on 93,952 trees last year.

MBPJ’s Landscape Department performed maintenance for 780 trees while maintenance for 93,172 trees was done by its contractors.

From January to May, it reported that 9,217 trees underwent maintenance.

A total of 384 trees were chopped down because they were dead, infected by illness, damaged or tilted.

It was also announced that MBPJ has allocated RM8mil for tree maintenance for 2024.

Councillor Nalina Nair called on area supervisors appointed by MBPJ’s Landscape Department to ensure the appointed contractors were performing quality tree maintenance work.

She said a more systematic approach that was quick and effective was needed.

Nalina also called for a workshop on better tree management planning to be held soon.

“At the workshop, which will be conducted by experts, we can learn about better tree-marking systems.

“We can either use paint or tape to flag trees that have been maintained. This adds accountability and ensures more trees are inspected.

“We cannot wait for a tragedy to happen before we act,” she added. — By SHEILA SRI PRIYA
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Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has cleared 28 tonnes of waste, mostly broken branches and tree trunks, following Saturday’s storm.