Residents have been complaining that the waste removal process has been slow in the flood-hit neighbourhood, with piles of rubbish left to bake in the sun for days or rotting in stagnant pools of water.

Ramli Mohd Tahir, who is the waste management company’s managing director, apologised for the delay and asked the residents to be patient, saying Taman Sri Muda was a huge area.

“Big area equals more trash. We clear it out today, tomorrow there will be more in its place as residents are slowly clearing out their homes. That is why it is taking so long,” he said.

“We are trying hard to clear up the trash as fast as we can. Please bear with us,” he said in a press conference today.

Ramli also said the company would deploy more vehicles and manpower and work late into the night to clear up the waste.

“Right now, we have 90 arm-roll lorries deployed in Sri Muda but we are planning to bring in more over the next few days.

“We are 35% done with the waste disposal and we hope to completely remove the trash by next Tuesday,” he said.

Ramli also reached out to other organisations that have heavy-duty lorries, appealing for them to loan it to KDEBWM so that the trash could be cleared out faster.

“To the NGOs that are already helping out, please dispose of the trash directly at our temporary disposable station near the Section 25 mosque or at any proper and legal landfill.”

“All accumulated trash will be disposed of at the Jeram landfill once Sri Muda has been completely cleared out,” he added.

As of now, KDEBWM has cleared out a total of 22,000 tonnes of waste from all affected areas in Selangor, and 5,000 tonnes from Sri Muda alone.