Dept under fire for inefficiency
15/11/2008 The Star By By YIP YOKE TENG

THE Federal Insolvency Department has been taken to task for its inefficiency that has resulted in people suffering inconveniences.

One such case happened in Taman Sungai Besi in Kuala Lumpur and as a result, occupants of more than 500 households and 40 shops have to put up with the stench emitting from a sewerage treatment plant whose pump has failed to work. One of the two pumps is still functioning but there are times when it fails. Sewerage water then overflows into the compound of the low-lying shops and squatter homes.

Source of stench: Pump failure at the sewerage treatment plant in Taman Sungai Besi has resulted in overflow of waste water.

The sewerage plant is owned by the developer of the Desa Pakar flats. The company wound up in March and the takeover of the sewerage plant by Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) is pending the approval of the Insolvency Department.

IWK is technically not responsible for problems at the plant but the company had repaired the pump out of goodwill on several occasions.

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, who visited the site on Tuesday, said she would write to the Prime Minister’s Department to highlight the matter if the department continued to sit on the case.

“Other MPs have also complained that the department works very slowly. Manpower shortage has always been cited as the reason but that is no longer acceptable because it has been granted a higher allocation in the Budget 2009,” she said.

The department is tasked with administering the assets and affairs of bankrupt companies in accordance with the Bankruptcy Act 1967 and Company Act 1965. It is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister’s Department.

According to Teresa’s special assistant Emily Sim, many meetings involving the department, National Water Services Commission (SPAN), IWK and the joint management body of the Desa Pakar flats had been held in the past few months but the case is still unresolved.

“We have been calling the department very often. Its latest answer is that it is still in the process of appointing a liquidator,” she said.

IWK communications manager Shahrul Nizam said the consortium was in no position to carry out repairs as the treatment plant was not under it, but the company stepped in to help in times of emergency.

Shahrul advised the residents to refrain from discarding other wastes, including cooking oil, into the basin and toilet.

Joint management body chairman Ng Toong Loy said the committee was formed only in July but was often blamed by the residents for anything that went wrong.

“We hope the Insolvency Department can act swiftly as the residents are suffering,” he said.

Shopowner Chong Fong Yin said many residents had to pump out the sewage water that flowed into the compound.

“It is really a chaotic situation. We hope the relevant authorities can act quickly to help resolve the problem,” he said.