LETTER | Address illegal dumping, bad road planning in S'gor

LETTER | Before the general election, I wanted whoever wins it and forms the federal government to start revamping the local government. Now, the fate is sealed, and it is time for the Pakatan Harapan to do the job especially when Selangor has been under the coalition for three terms, and the state of the state is only getting worse.

The third tier of government known as the local or city council is the one that affects people the most. It is also one of the most underperforming government agencies, as it is often headed by one council president or mayor.

I have been dealing with the local councils for the past 30 years and things have not improved since then.

When complaints about the local council’s failure to deliver its services, for example, reach the state exco in charge of the local government in both BN (previously, Tang See Hang) and Pakatan Harapan (now, Ng Sze Han and Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari) era, hardly any response can be expected.

Yet, it is these issues that affect people’s quality of life the most.

Selangor in bad shape

Compared to Penang, which has seen a drastic improvement in its cleanliness over the years that it came under the Harapan government, Selangor is now getting from bad to worse, earning it the title, “Negeri Darul Sampah” (State of rubbish).

In my area, for example, two local councillors appointed to the job by former MP Tony Pua have underperformed. Complaints to Pua have just fallen on deaf ears.

Despite complaints raised with the local council and the councillors concerned over two years, illegal dumping continued to plague the zone. Problems on the ground are not solved. Complaints to both state assemblyperson Elizabeth Wong and Pua also went unheeded.

Now that Gobind Singh Deo has become the MP, it is time for him to come down to the ground to view for himself the complaints, which have not been solved.

As voters, we want the newly elected people's representative to meet the constituents often enough to understand the local issues and effect policies that will bring about improvement at the local council level. This is because both Amirudin and Ng have both not bothered about the complaints. To me, there is no difference from the previous administration before 2008.

For over two years, as I started focusing on Selangor, I noticed that illegal dumping is all over the place. Unlike Penang which has improved on its cleanliness, illegal dumping appears at every nook and corner. I have many pictures as evidence of this.

After my complaints, I could not believe it when I saw a banner being put up, advertising the local councillor’s briefing on the importance of cleanliness.

Timed between 2pm–4pm on a Monday afternoon, I can only imagine what kind of crowd would turn up at the coffee shop to listen to him. If that is all that is done, no wonder the cleanliness of the zone has not improved.

Harapan may eventually collapse in S’gor

This is a sad case where local councillors are politically appointed instead of being elected by the people, a promise which Harapan had harped on in its manifesto during the last general election.

Till today, this promise has yet to be fulfilled despite Selangor already being under Harapan for the third term.

Going by the outcome of the polls, Harapan in Selangor may not collapse immediately in the next general election, but unless the right people are on the state exco, things can only deteriorate further.

Unless Harapan revamps the local councils like what they did in Penang, Selangor citizens may eventually dump the coalition. I am hoping that the newly minted prime minister will task the housing and local government minister to introduce good governance in the local councils.

Legislators have to come out with policies that further improve the local council’s good delivery of services. This will eventually affect the quality of our lives.

In my zone, I have been highlighting some issues. For example, the local council is very good at building five road humps (three on one road and two on the other road) within just an area of 20m by 20m. Local councils are also good at turning roads into one-way streets all over the place, which may not necessarily solve the traffic congestion.

Meanwhile, a road rail guard that has been knocked by a vehicle some two years ago has yet to be replaced. Road signs are placed at locations that are illogical.

Several of these road signs are showing getting rusty, and if not repainted, they will soon have to be replaced with new ones.

Blue is also not a suitable colour to use for paints exposed to sunlight. As a paint chemist, I know that the pigments used in these blue paints are lower grade pigments that can fade away after prolonged exposure to light.

Pointing to MPS

Although generally, this is true with local councils nationwide, I will just bring a couple of examples which I have highlighted to Selayang Municipal Council (MPS).

I also find several road humps in my housing estate, especially two just next to the security barrier gate system in my housing estate would hit the lower deck of cars such as Honda City and Kancil.

I sometimes even question why the need for two humps when vehicles would have automatically slowed down the moment they reach the security barrier gate.

If, according to MPS, these humps follow technical specifications, something is desperately wrong with their specifications when motorists risk getting the lower deck of their cars hitting the humps.

One-way streets are created at the council’s whims and fancies. I have a number of examples to show Gobind when he takes time to come down to the ground since until today, MPS has not solved the problem despite the issue highlighted at every level from complaining to the council president, assemblyperson, MP, state exco for local Government and the menteri besar.

MPS is also very good at converting roads into one-way streets, which creates a mess in the traffic flow. I have highlighted a number of these areas to the council. A particular junction at Jalan Desa 1/5, for example, has seen traffic merging from four different directions.

Its road planning skills need to improve. In Desa Jaya, because Jalan 5 cuts across Jalan 2, 3 and 4, the traffic from these roads would merge at Jalan 5 to exit Desa Jaya, and accidents happen.

Till today, they have not done a proper traffic study and improve the flow of traffic here, but whenever it turned a road into a one-way street, it often claims that it was done after carrying out a proper study of the traffic flow.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.