Kedah Wants To Emulate Mie Prefecture, Japan In Solid Waste Management

From Kamarul Ariffin Md Yassin MIE (Japan), May 19 (Bernama) -- The Kedah government wants to learn and emulate Mie Prefecture in its environmental-friendly management of solid waste. Chief Minister Mukhriz Dr Mahathir (left) who visited the prefecture's Mie Recycle Centre on Monday, said he was impressed with its technology in disposing solid waste. "The centre is clean, no odour, the water is also clean, and recycled items are even sold there. It is a very profitable industry. "Kedah should consider it. What is more impressive is that the wastes are not just from around Mie, they come from throughout Japan," he told reporters after a courtesy call on Mie Prefecture governor Eikei Suzuki (right). Mukhriz said he had requested of Suzuki for experts from Mie to study Kedah's waste disposal system and propose the technology to improve it. "We want to emulate what is applied here. I was told (during the meeting with Suzuki) that visitors and officers from Malaysia had come here for training in solid waste management. So we hope to do the same," he said. Nevertheless, he said Kedah's solid waste management system needed to be studied and the viable technology identified before officers from the state are sent for training. "The problem (waste) is the same everywhere, but Mie has processed it cleanly through good management and technology," he noted. Meanwhile, Suzuki said during the meeting that Mie Prefecture had had some degree of air, water and land pollution in the past but eventually managed to resolve and overcome the problem. "Mie Recycle Centre, managed by Daiei Kankyo Group since 1980, is one of the best in this country. Before this, we already received 27 trainess from Malaysia, and we are willing to help Kedah in this matter as well," he said. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA