KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Over 200 judiciary personnel came together at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex here this morning for a “gotong-royong”, or to clean together the building after cleaners went on strike over unpaid wages.
Besides administrative staff and court offices, 10 judges also took part including Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim.
Divided into 14 stations, they quickly went to work cleaning all eight floors of the complex at around 10am, and finished just after noon.
Among the tasks carried out included cleaning toilets, sweeping and mopping the floors and corridors, emptying garbage bins and pails and disposing its contents, and wiping windows and glass doors.
Federal Court of Malaya Chief Registrar’s Office’s corporate communications officer Suzarika Sahak said the event today was a success.
“We managed to do the job within three hours.. Thanks to the efforts of the personnel who participated in the ‘gotong-royong’, the complex is now much cleaner,” she said.
On Friday, the New Straits Times reported that around 20 cleaners have refused to continue their services after alleging they have not been paid their regular wages.
Court staff including members of the judiciary have been forced to clean their own facilities such as restrooms.
It is understood that the 20 cleaners begun their strike as early as the fasting month of Ramadan, after which they resumed work upon being paid their wages shortly before Aidilfitri. However failure to be paid again resulted in another strike.
The Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex is home to the High Court, Sessions Court, and Magistrates’ Court.
