PJ council bags second earth hour challenge prize (Updated)

PETALING JAYA: The Petaling Jaya City Council achieved yet another remarkable milestone recently when they were announced the national winner for the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC) for the second consecutive year.
Mayor Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain said the recognition was a result of all efforts by everyone in the city council as well as relevant stakeholders in ensuring the successful implementation of the city council's low carbon city management plan.
Mohd Azizi gave his assurance that the council would continue to do its best in raising more public awareness about the importance of low carbon through its various programme and activities in order to create a sustainable, green and friendly city.
The EHCC award was presented by WWF-Malaysia Head of Market and Education Thiagarajan Nedeson to Mohd Azizi in a simple ceremony at the council's headquarters today.
EHCC saw participation from 125 cities representing 21 countries, including United States, France, Thailand, Sweden, China and India. Paris was named as the 2016 Global Earth Hour Capital.
Among other cities in Malaysia that participated in this year's challenge were Malacca, Penang and Kuching Utara.
Meanwhile, Mohd Azizi said the ongoing construction works for the One-Way Loop (OWL) system is expected to be completed by mid-October.
He said construction is almost 90% complete, adding that what remains is interlocking work at Section 52 and re-pavement of Jalan Yong Shook Lin.
"Once everything is completed, we will begin our traffic audit to determine the feasibility of the loop and what else needs to be improved.
"The previous completion date, Aug 31, had to be postponed because of several council activities like the PJ City Fair which somehow disrupted the ongoing construction works," he said.
Mohd Azizi also said the council's solid waste and public cleansing department is in the midst of conducting a registration exercise for private contractors offering solid waste collection services within the council's administrative region.
"The purpose of the registration is to allow the council to better monitor and supervise the contractors' activities.
"It could also help to reduce illegal dumping activities," he said.