KULAI, May 26 — An average of about 18,000 kilogrammes (kg) of garbage has been collected daily since the cleaning work at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah Flats (Tuta) in Skudai, Johor Baru, started more than a week ago.

State Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said, so far, the cleaning work carried out by SWM Environment and SWCorp at the flat has exceeded 90 per cent.

"The amount of waste collected from Tuta Flat alone involves 10,200kg of domestic waste and 7,550kg of bulk waste on average per day. In addition, the amount of bulk waste collected also reached 90 per cent for just two days (May 16 and 17),” he said when asked about the cleanliness of the flats, comprising 44 blocks with 4,085 units.

The Bukit Permai state assemblyman also said that, for now, the state government had applied to the Federal government for a RM26 million allocation for the rejuvenation process of the flat.

The Tuta flats, which are over 40 years old, are among about 100 low-cost flats located within the Johor Bahru City Council (MBJB); Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP); Pasir Gudang City Council (MBPG) and Kulai Municipal Council (MPkU) areas.

Of the total, Mohd Jafni was reported as saying that more than 50 per cent of them were in the problematic category.

The issue of dirty and dilapidated public flats in the state first caught the attention of many after the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar expressed his disappointment over the poor condition of buildings, maintenance, and cleanliness of low-cost flats in the state on May 15. — Bernama