“Most of them have been sent back to their country of origin since last year. Now, there are only about 100 containers left at the port, ” said Penang Port Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Sasedharan Vasudevan.“The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a reduction of such containers coming into the port as freight and shipping charges have increased two-fold.
The turnover of most containers was taking a longer time due to the pandemic and restricted movement of container traffic in ports all over. “The Customs Department, too, has reduced the issue of fraud where importers deliberately misfiled containers under different codes to bring the plastic waste in, ” he said.
About 800 containers of plastic waste were discovered waiting to be brought into the country. They were from Britain, Hong Kong, Japan and Germany.In February this year, Penang Environment Department director Sharifah Zakiah Syed Sahab said more than 200 containers of plastic waste from all over the world were still stuck at NBCT.
Where is the menteri responsible?