Lawmaker questions nighttime waste (mis)management

Lawmaker Lam Lon Wai has said that a trash build-up after dark is contributing to poor waste management in the region.

According to Lam, there are essentially two main issues that the government should address regarding this topic – the difference between the street tidiness during the day and night, and the poor supervision over unlawful acts of waste dumping.

In Lam’s words, “From 8/9 p.m., a lot of garbage starts to be seen on the streets, including small and medium-sized trash containers from buildings and restaurants.”

“Such garbage must be handled by cleaning companies at the expense of the users and restaurant owners, but some people do not follow the rules and continue to leave household garbage and even large [items of] waste in the garbage containers that probably stay there for several hours until they are collected by the garbage truck.”

According to Lam, the waste is not well packed and containers are not covered, causing unpleasant smells and the proliferation of insects and rats.

In this sense, the lawmaker proposed that the government organize a timetable for trash collection in different areas and advise restaurants against putting waste containers on the streets before the established time.

With this system in place, the lawmaker says that the interference of trash collection with traffic flow, among other aspects, can also be minimized.
As for the second issue, Lam urges to government to more strictly enforce the General Regulation Governing Public Spaces, which establishes fines for the arbitrary abandonment of waste.
Currently, he says that the regulations are not effective as most unlawful waste dumping activities occur at night, when the inspectors are off duty.

To contribute to awareness within the population, he also proposes that the government should place signs on the garbage collection points and identify “black points” where most infringements occur, reinforcing the supervision over those areas.  RM