THE Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre) has expressed concern over the mass dumping of rice and other food items at a garbage disposal site in Temerloh, Pahang by a former MP.

The anti-corruption watchdog said former Kuala Krau MP Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed Said’s actions raise several pertinent questions of governance that must be answered.

This comes after a video showing mounds of food including rice, sardines and flour, among others, being discarded at a garbage site went viral on social media.

Following this, the former deputy home minister had admitted to discarding the food items and explained that they had been stored for a long time and were now contaminated and unsafe for human consumption.

“Why was such a substantial amount of food stored for so long that it expired? Ismail stated that the food stocks were procured in 2022 before the 15th general election and stored as it is prohibited to distribute goods to the public during campaign period,” C4 Centre said in a statement on Thursday (April 25).

“However, why wasn’t the food distributed to the constituency after the election? Was this influenced by his loss in the contest? His actions, especially amidst a national rice shortage, raise serious concerns as to whether this practice occurs in other constituencies in Malaysia.”

The C4 Centre further noted that discarding food items in an allegedly illegal landfill area is negligent and unacceptable from a former MP and minister.

“It is not sufficient to merely accept responsibility for the disposal and express regret, as Ismail had done in his statement,” it said.

“The action of illegal disposal of waste can be charged under the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007, which carries a fine from RM10,000 to a maximum of RM100,000, or a jail term of six months to five years, or both.

“Not only that, some of the items in the dumpsite seen in the circulated videos were burned, which is a crime under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 where an offender can be fined a maximum of RM500,000 or jail term of up to 5 years, or both.”

According to C4 Centre, both these actions are egregious considering Malaysia is already dealing with existing illegal dumping and waste management issues.

This is especially when C4 Centre’s “Malaysia is not a garbage dump: Citizens against corruption, complacency, and climate crisis” report had uncovered the major challenges facing Malaysia’s waste management, especially since China’s 2019 ban on waste imports which led to it being redirected to Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries.

Early investigations by Pahang Solid Waste and Public Cleaning Management Corporation (SWCorp) had also found that the dumpsite in Temerloh is not gazetted as a garbage disposal site.

“Had this incident not been exposed, the massive piles of food waste and their packaging would deteriorate and contaminate the surrounding environment, affecting waterways, land, and air, negatively affecting the health and livelihood of local communities,” C4 Centre said.

“As a former lawmaker, Ismail should have known of the impact of his actions. He and his team should have worked together with waste management agencies such as SWCorp, along with the Padi and Rice Supervision Section (KPB) under the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (KPKM) to dispose of the rice.” - April 25, 2024 

https://focusmalaysia.my/c4-former-mps-irresponsible-food-dumping-highlights-ignorance-in-food-security-waste-management/