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Children
hunt for ‘gold’ in the garbage By YIP YOKE TENG teng@thestar.com.my Photos by NORAFIFI EHSAN A lot needs to be done to improve
waste management and the life of orang asli in the country. StarMetro observed
about 20 children accompanied by their families foraging for junk during a
visit to the Bukit Beruntung landfill. A sparkle of excitement flashed
across their tender faces as their eyes lit on on a fully-loaded garbage
truck, with leachate dripping along its trail. About 20 of them, aged between
five and 15, rushed towards the truck that was about to park in front of the
mountain of rubbish that is the Bukit Beruntung landfill.
Oblivious:
Raman, 6, did not even frown while using a stick and his bare hands to
collect plastic
bottles at the landfill. Landfill manager Chee Po, a
tanned, well-built, snowy-haired man, waved his hands to help position the
truck, while shouting to disperse the children who had started mobbing the
gigantic machine. The children, with some men and women, soon secured for
themselves the best spots so that they could grab whatever that would soon be
unloaded from the truck. The rusty container was raised in
the air and garbage came tumbling down, sending swarms of flies into a wild
swirl and nauseating stench into our nostrils. “It’s very dangerous for the
kids. They’re so tiny while we’re dealing with heavy machinery like trucks
and bulldozers. They do not get much, I think at the most RM10 a day,” said
Chee. It was a Monday morning when we followed waste management specialist Dr
Theng Lee Chong to the landfill to learn about scavenging activities. After about an hour’s drive from
Pusat Bandar Damansara, we arrived at Bukit Beruntung. There are nine
operating landfills in Selangor, all located far away from urban areas such
as Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Ampang Jaya, Shah Alam and Selayang. Waste from these areas is first
sent to the transfer station in Taman Beringin, Jinjang, before traveling
another 60km to the Bukit Tagar landfill in Hulu Selangor. Frankly, the
landfill was not as smelly as we had thought. “This is a mild one,” said Dr
Theng, who had visited more than 50 landfills. “The worst I have visited was
one incinerator in Klang that also took medical waste, including organs and
flesh,” he added.
Bringing
it back: Child scavengers carrying bags of plastic bottles and aluminium cans
that they collected at the landfill Even Dr
Theng was surprised to see so many children at the landfill. According to
him, the issue of children scavenging in An officer from the local
authority, who was worried about a negative report, was quick to add: “We do
not ban scavengers as they just want to eke out a living, they’re not begging
or stealing.” Landfills are under the purview of local councils and managed
by appointed operators but scavenging has never really been heeded. Some
landfill operators give the scavengers uniforms but most just leave them
alone. “They are exposed to various risks
caused by toxicity or pollutants from waste materials, including skin
problems and chronic diseases. They are also exposed to injuries from
machinery or sharp objects, dumpsite collapse and landfill fires,” Dr Theng
said. “Scavenging can be formalised in many ways such as having a material
recovery facility where workers can manually sort out the items. With this,
scavengers are better protected in terms of health and safety, and there is a
less chance of them being exploited by middle men who offer to help sell the
items,” he added. None of the children seemed to care about the filth and
stench as they dragged their finds back to the “rest area” at a corner of the
landfill.
Taking a breather: The makeshift
shelter of the ‘Rest Area’ is caked in filth but the scavengers have no other
place to take a break. The “rest area” consists of a
wooden hut, a broken two-room cement structure, stacked-up water tanks, some
dust-caked sofas and makeshift shelters where they take a breather. They
placed the bottles onto different piles belonging to different families and
then gathered to chit-chat and play until the next truck came, at about
30-minute intervals. “No, they are not my kids, but my relatives. My kids are
in school, two of them now work in the estate,” said Sahir Yatim, 33, who has
been at the landfill for six years. Other adults said the same, no one
admitted that they brought their children here. They are from the nearby
Kampung Bukit Manchong. They normally reach the landfill at Likewise, we saw only blank faces
when Dr Theng asked what they wanted for the future. “We want the children to go to
school, but they do not listen. We know it is dangerous to be here, but it is
difficult to teach them,” Sahir said in Bahasa Melayu. His friend, Rina, 32,
added: “Every time we send them to school, they run back and cry non-stop.”
Imi, 21, said she did not allow her three children — aged between three
months and six years — to come to the landfill. However, she and her husband
supported the family by picking up recyclable items. She worked at the
landfill and her husband went around Rawang to sell the items. Scavenging
is not their priority even though the returns are good. They prefer their
normal jobs such as cutting grass, cleaning drains or driving lorries, but
barely get the orders.
Risky business: Heavy machinery manoeuvring on th “I don’t know how to read and
write so there’s nothing much I can ask for,” Sahir said. “However, it can be
nice working here, I see children running about and that makes me happy. On
busier days, usually on Tuesday and Wednesday, we have up to 40 children
here,” he added. Jamun, 42, said she started working at the landfill since
its opening in 2001. “We were working at the oil palm plantation here, then
we saw trucks coming in to dump rubbish. “Soon, people in our village started
talking about making money here, so we came,” Jamu said. She said the price
then was 20sen for a kg of plastic bottles and through the years she had to
watch the children closely while seeing many changes. “Luckily, no one has been hurt
badly. Only once was a boy injured when a truck reversed, but he was fine,”
she said. Her grandson hid behind her as she spoke. She said his mother died
at 27 during confinement, and his father died later of illness. The villagers
said many friends and relatives died or were paralysed when they reached
middle age. Sahir said a few months back, half his body felt numb but doctors
did not detect anything wrong. They suspected working in the landfill brought
them the health problems, but none was sure and thus no one did anything
about it. Before long, another truck came and the children rushed forward for
another round of rummaging amid cheers and laughter. L.C. THENG (Ph.D) Technical Advisor DANIDA-Solid Waste Management
Component National Solid Waste Management
Department Level 4,
Block B North Pusat Bandar Damansara 50644 Tel: +6012-2977993 / +603-20961612 Fax: +603-20934089 |
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