The housing and local government minister said the reduction of nearly 60% was thanks to the government’s continuous and proactive efforts.

“I would like to remind all local authorities to honour the contracts or agreements signed between the federal and state governments, as per the Contracts Act 1950,” Sinar Harian reported him as saying in Bangi today.

Nga said failure to pay the debts would jeopardise the quality and efficiency of SWCorp’s public cleaning services.

In August, Ipoh Timor MP Howard Lee, who also sits on SWCorp’s board, said local authorities owed nearly half a billion ringgit to SWCorp for rubbish collection and street cleaning services.

He said the debts stemmed from a 2011 arrangement under which the federal government took over waste services in several states.

SWCorp is a federal agency under the housing and local government ministry which manages domestic rubbish collection and public cleaning in states that have adopted the national waste system.

Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Kedah and Perlis have signed on with SWCorp.