KUALA LUMPUR: Hawkers and petty traders can help reduce the cost of waste management, amounting to millions of ringgit annually, by practising a systematic waste management, said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
Its director (Licensing and Petty Traders), Jabarilah Jaafar said although the matter seemed petty, the impact from the awareness of hawkers and petty traders to do so would not only reduce the waste management cost, but also overcome the problems of flash floods and waste dumping in the city.
“Cleanliness begins with the traders as they are the first source to produce the rubbish. If the 214 traders and hawkers here cooperate and know their role in managing waste, especially food waste and used oil, it will certainly help DBKL and Alam Flora to save millions of ringgit a year on waste management cost,“ she added.
She told this to reporters after launching a gotong-royong programme at Jalan Haji Taib here today which involved the participation of 200 petty traders and hawkers.
The programme was jointly organised by Alam Flora, the Federal Territories Malay Hawkers and Petty Traders Association and the Association of Tiong Nam Area Traders, Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, Federal Territories Malay Hawkers and Petty Traders Association president Datuk Mohamad Abdullah said the public should also not waste food to overcome the problem of food waste.
“Perhaps, we should apply the approach implemented in others countries, like charging customers for unfinished food, which may the best way to educate the public to not waste food and this will also reduce waste of food waste,“ he added. — Bernama
