WASTE management companies have been warned to clean up their act or face legal action for not consistently collecting rubbish at specified commercial areas.

Deputy Chairman of the Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Board Mohammad Ramli Hj Zulkifli made the strong warning during a clean-up campaign at Kiulap commercial area yesterday.

Speaking to The Brunei Times, Mohammad Ramli Hj Zulkifli described the littering situation in the area as "worrying" especially on the maintenance aspect of it and believed that most of the tenants in the area employ the services of waste management companies.

"But it has come to us that it has not been done properly and the tenants became victims of injustice as they still have to pay certain amount to the waste management companies," he said.

believed that there should be at least around four to five companies involved in the waste management of the ever-growing commercial area.

Mohammad Ramli commented that the current littering situation has "offended" the department and reminded the companies that it is an offence under the law of the Municipal Department to neglect the cleanliness issue of an area.

"We will not hesitate to enforce any existing law we have at the moment to ensure that the irresponsible
companies would no longer be in operations," he said.

The deputy director acknowledged that the regulations and monitoring aspects of the job are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRE)

"But we can recommend to them (JASTRE) for the companies' permits to be suspended or terminated (if the problem persists)," he added.

However, Mohammad Ramli said that the Municipal Department would prefer an educative action over a punitive one thus, he hoped that yesterday's cleaning campaign could be seen as a lesson to be learned by the responsible appointed waste management companies in the area. "If they (waste management companies) want to be a sustainable company then they have to be committed," he said.

Tenants at one of the business premises in Kiulap complained on the inadequacy of services delivered by the waste management companies.

Branch supervisor of KFC, Azmi Malih who earlier participated in the morning cleaning campaign, said that the appointed company should increase the number of workers assigned at certain areas and extend their working hours to ensure quality and efficient services.

"Sometimes they (the workers) come here in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon...and they only send a single worker to do everything, who I believe can't deliver sufficient amount of work on his own considering the size of the building.

The supervisor also believed that the appointed company is trying to cut its cost by assigning the same worker to clean other areas in Kiulap which could be the deciding factor to their inconsistent time of operations.

A supervisor from a restaurant located in the same business premise complained that the company was not doing enough.

"On normal days, they would only send one worker to clean up the area, but today, there are maybe 20 workers from the company, surprising," said the 50-year-old.

He described the appointed waste management company as showing lack of commitment in delivering their services.

The supervisor also called upon neighbouring tenants to cooperate as they cannot work on keeping the area clean alone.

"We are not pointing fingers here but please be more responsible and don't dump rubbish recklessly," he said, commenting on the irresponsible dumping at the shared disposal site at the back of their premise.

Meanwhile a representative from a local dispensary shop echoed the same sentiment as he believed that there was a lack of commitment shown by the appointed waste management company.

He also believed that the fee charged to their company was not justified by the amount of services delivered.

"The rubbish bins get piled up easily and rubbish collection are not being done regularly by them, therefore we leave the responsibility to act on this matter to the relevant authority," he said.

By Fitri Shahminan