The move to get Malaysians to separate their household waste has been postponed from April 1 to 2013, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said.
He said the decision to postpone the ruling was taken due to the low awareness among the public on the need to separate their household waste.
“At present, less than 10% of the country’s households practise waste separation,” he told reporters after visiting an incinerator on the island here yesterday.
Chor said that although there were provisions under the Solid Waste Management Act compelling households to do so, the ministry would not enforce it just yet.
He said the ministry would also embark on a roadshow to educate the people on waste separation.
Chor said he also believed that states which currently refused to follow provisions under the Act by letting private companies take over waste management would do so once they saw the benefits.
“I can assure these states that the cost of collecting rubbish and assessment rates will not increase,” he said.
Chor also said the Federal Government would build an incinerator in Labuan, the fifth such installation in the country.
The project, planned under the 10th Malaysia Plan, would begin once technical issues had been sorted out, he said.
“Incinerators are the way forward as with the advancement of technology, pollution has been cut to a minimum,” he added.
