KUALA LANGAT: Twenty landowners who had rented their plots to illegal recycling plastic factories have swung into action to remove unwanted imported plastic waste from their plots as instructed by the Selangor government.
This came following fears that their plots, possibly worth millions of ringgit, would be seized by the state government if they failed to get rid of the imported plastic waste within a stipulated timeframe.
To date, 20 out of 33 landowners have removed the imported plastic waste, 13 more are racing against time to do so.
Checks on two illegal factories at the Jalan Gangsa Industrial Park and Jalan Segenting Batu 11 in Teluk Panglima Garang showed that tonnes of plastic waste which used to occupy the compounds of the illegal factories have been removed.
At the illegal factory located at Jalan Gangsa Industrial Park, the operator appeared to have completely seized its activities as no more machinery or jumbo plastic bags were seen and there were “For Sale/Rent” banners hung at its entrance.
The Jalan Segenting Batu 11 premises was devoid of any plastic waste and machinery.
Meanwhile, at an illegal factory in Jalan Segenting, Mukim Telok, no work seemed to have begun to remove the plastic waste.
At another illegal factory in Jalan Sungai Jarum in Jenjarom, a backhoe was spotted removing mountains of plastic waste.
The backhoe operator said he had been working on the site for several weeks now but he was tightlipped when asked where the plastic waste would be sent to.
Banting assemblyman Lau Weng San said landowners were adhering to the stern directive issued by the state government and the situation was progressing well.
He said landowners were left to their own devices, despite them pleading to the state government to be easy on them, or for him to extend his assistance.
“Some landowners have approached me for help. They want me to assist them to get leniency from the state government or allow them some leeway.
“But I told them to follow the law. They were hauled up and charged in court under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and there is nothing much that I can do.
“They will have to engage the best lawyers to help them because the criminal charge was filed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers based on investigation papers prepared by the Department of Environment.
“So, the legal proceeding had already started and there is nothing much I can do to save them. The best thing to do is to engage lawyers to help them,” Lau told the New Straits Times.
He added that the landowners were not only charged in court but are also facing double or triple jeopardy as they risk being jailed or fined tens or hundreds of thousands of ringgit and for committing the offence of land abuse.
Lau also dismissed suggestions by certain quarters that the federal and state governments are not doing enough to tackle the problem.
“To claim that we have not done anything to eliminate the illegal factories is an understatement. We have jumped into action and done something to address the problem. Otherwise, the situation would have persisted, ” added Lau.
Selangor Local Government, Public Transportation and New Village Development executive councillor Ng Sze Han had earlier said that the state government was taking action against landowners through the National Land Code for the wrong usage of the land, which involved many agricultural plots that carried out industrial activities.
He said there were several stages to serving notices to land owners to clear the land and ensure that the plots go back to its status before a confiscation can be carried out.
He said Notice 7A of the National Land Code had been served to the landowners at the end of last year which instructs them to revert their plots to its original status.
They must also clear the land of the plastic waste within a stipulated period.
Failure to do so would see a reminder notice served under Notice 7B.
If nothing is done, Ng said they will issue Notice 8A, which enables the state government to seize the land.
He said the entire process from the issuance of Notice 7A to Notice 8A will take between six and 12 months.
Ng added that the state government will not extend the grace period given to revert the status and clear the plastic waste.