By Susan Loone
Dec 2, 10
Malaysiakini
Just by renegotiating with the contractor to reduce the cost of transporting solid waste within the state, two local councils in Penang have saved RM33 million of the people’s money.
The money, in the form of surcharge payment to the contractor, will be reclaimed by the two municipal councils – Penang Island and Seberang Perai.
“Imagine how much Umno cronies had profited before this and caused a burden to the people,” said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at a Seberang Perai Municipal Council function today.
He said following the Auditor-General’s advice, the municipal councils were tasked to reclaim the surcharge money paid to the contractor , which amounted to RM222,880.
If the contractor does not return the money, its monthly payment will be reduced, he added.
The contractor, who had been transporting solid waste for the municipal councils before March 2008, when Pakatan Rakyat took over the state , has amicably agreed to repay the surcharge incurred from 2008 to 2009 (21 months), Lim (right) said.
“The renegotiation with the contractor resulted in the reduction of the cost (of transporting solid waste) by about 40 percent and saved us RM33 million in three years,” he said, commending the municipal councils for bringing their accounts back into the blue.
Lim was referring to a recent reminder issued by the Auditor-General on surcharge payments to contractors for the service of solid waste transfer, which amounted to RM222,880 a month from January 2008 to last year.
The surcharge was due to the different weighing methods for the waste at two landfills – Ampang Jajar and Pulau Burung.
The Seberang Perai council managed to salvage the situation by signing a new contract with the contractor in December last year, under which the garbage collected must now be weighed at the Pulau Burung landfill, not at Ampang Jajar.
“This not only resolved that issue of extra payment to the contractor but was also commended by the Auditor-General as to be the right and accurate decision to make,” said Lim.
He did not provide details on the Penang Island Municipal Council’s handling of the issue.
#1 by Dipoh Bous on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 3:38 pm
pls don’t try to disburse that $$$ to the rakyat of penang since that is ‘rubbish’ money because umno would surely use it as a weapon to harpoon pr. remember the previous noble gesture?
use that ‘rubbish’ rm to spread more good news to the interior of sabah & sarawak. that should yield some positive results towards pr’s cause.
in sarawak, some people collected millions from ‘holes’ that are unsightly in kuching at this point of time…..
#2 by yhsiew on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 3:38 pm
Well done, Guan Eng!
Matters concerning money must go through the RIGHT person so that the rakyat will not be taken for a ride.
#3 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 4:17 pm
Kudos, YB Lim Guan Eng! Kudos!
I know I can trust you with my mother’s lifesavings and my family’s heirloom (if I have any).
BUT UMNO/BN, yikes! I can’t trust them with my granddaughter’s piggy bank!
Since the days you went to jail for that Malay girl in Melaka for that cheeky Rahim’ s romp, I knew I can trust you with the country!
You have proven true to your DNA. God bless you and grant you grace and fortitude for the race.
#4 by Winston on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 4:48 pm
That’s the stuff good governance is made of.
#5 by waterfrontcoolie on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 6:25 pm
PR should not waste time in useless exchange of slogans; just show the people and BN the REAL RESULTS! Let them explain to the raayat when the GE election comes round! How could green-horn Gomen without much of an experience saved so much of Raayat’s money when the about to pension BN kept creating budget deficits allover the country??
#6 by boh-liao on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 7:21 pm
Indeed, there is GOLD in SH!T
Dis huge saving came fr cutting down d cost of transporting solid waste, inclusive of tak halal najis
LGE shld b sensitif enuf not 2 distribute d $ fr dis saving 2 Muslims, just in case UmnoB kakis create problems by yelling tak halal sh!t $$
#7 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 7:23 pm
Getting contractor to weigh garbage at the Pulau Burung landfill instead of at Ampang Jajar saves RM33 million reclaimed in the form of surcharge by the two municipal councils – Penang Island and Seberang Perai.
“Imagine how much Umno cronies had profited before this and caused a burden to the people” – LGE.
No doubt UMNO cronyism was a factor – as it goes with most appointments- but it probably does not explain fully other factors affecting the big difference in costs of RM33 million between weighing cheaper at Pulau Burung landfill instead of the higher cost Ampang Jajar.
The Ampang Jajar Transfer Station (started in Jan 2004) for weighing transferring and transporting of domestic and industrial solid waste uses updated and probably most costly technology from the Netherlands. I am surprised that the technology used in Ampang Jajar site’s transfer station being clearly effective in reducing the pollution problem and in raising the delivery capacity of domestic waste to Pulau Burung does not translate to cheaper costs.
To now weigh in Pulau Burung Landfill Site instead of Ampang Jajar’s station doubly confirms that garbage disposal is still at Pulau Burung Landfill Site instead of Ampang Jajar’s landfill site. Was the RM33 million also caused in part by past Gerakan administration disposing (before the change of place of weighing) in Ampang Jajar’s land fill which might or might not be more costly because it is more technologically advanced landfill site than Pulau Burung Landfill Site.
The Ampang Jajar landfill site Ampang Jajar landfill site has technological assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency providing technical cooperation and promoting economic and social development in waste disposal. Ampang Jajar adopts like in Japan the passive aeration system. The system there uses special type of vent pipes for stabilisation of land site and more efficient in reducing emission of methane to meet environmental regulations. Pulau Burung land fill site is not that technologically advanced and in fact faces some problems. The waste are piled on soft ground there and subsidence has occurred, causing some drainage and vent facilities there to mal-function. It takes a longer time to stabilise the site in Pulau Burung land fill as compared to Ampang Jajar. Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen, and from meeting requirements of Enviromental legislations, the conditions are probably more anaerobic in Pulau Burung (emitting more methane and toxic gases and take a longer time to stablise the site) than at semi anaerobic Ampang Jajar with its already installed aeration devices/ special steel vent pipes manufactured by Tokyu Industries, Japan. It might well be a factor Ampang Jajar is more costly – whether in terms of weighing grabage or management of land fill sites – because of these techological advantages. This is a very technical issue and maybe experts in this field can throw some light if there are other reasons to explian the costs besides just cronyism.
#8 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 7:42 pm
The balancing factor is not just costs only but also the greater cost implicated in more technologically advanced infrastructure of land fills to reduce environmental pollution/emission of toxic gas. The Contractor – it wants to cari makan – and retain his contract with state govt, so if the employer wants cheaper to cut cost, the contractor will just take the garbage to wherever else it could dump the garbage cheaper. The state govt’s role is however more complicated. It has also to weigh longer term enviromental concerns as they affect the state and not just black and white saving of costs.
#9 by HJ Angus on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 8:14 pm
thanks Jeffrey for the good write-up.
But well done to the Penang government for doing a basic follow-up to the Auditor-General’s Report.
That is what each and every department should be doing and that could save Malaysia millions each year and also get rid of corrupt officials.
#10 by HJ Angus on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 8:19 pm
admin:
may I suggest your Captcha words are sometimes too complicated(try it yourself).Maybe if can include an option for the writer to change the words without losing all the writing?
[sysadmin – thanks for the feedback. Yes, indeed some words are sometimes too complicated. However there is a function for you to change the words without losing any of your writings. To change the captcha words click on the icon with 2 arrows in a circular fashion. It is the 1st icon (among 3 icons arranged vertically) in between the text box and recaptcha icon.]
re garbage disposal. It is time Malaysians decide to reduce and recycle waste as most of the dumps are inefficient and a danger to our water resources.
#11 by Thor on Thursday, 2 December 2010 - 9:14 pm
If we, the rakyat could dispose “garbage Umno”, we can even save billions!
#12 by monsterball on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 4:28 am
The more Lim Guan Eng exposed corruption by Federal Govt….the more UMNO B crooks are after his hide.
Will Koh Tsu Koon dare to comment?
#13 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 4:38 am
I like Thor’s ( #13) suggestion except for two major corrections:
1) Should have been “Garbage Barisan Nasional”. After all, the rot is so entire – UMNO, MCA, MIC, PBB et. al.
2) I think over the last 50+ years, it should be trillions and not billions! Look, Barry Wain’s Malaysian Maverick alone reveals just the tip of the iceberg in undeclared, unrevealed billions of unexplained $$$ vanishes.
Admin:
Re: captcha – for other posters who have been frustrated by captcha. After having lost a few ‘long’ written pieces, I got so fed up and decided to copy the writing before I ‘submit comment’. That way, even when i get the captcha wrong, I am able to then paste it anew and resubmit without having to re-write. Just FYI.
#14 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 4:42 am
BTW, YB Lim Guan Eng – RM33 million is only for the waste collection, maybe the Rakyat needs to know a little bit more about savings in other Departments or Revenue too. I mean the info would be a good re-education for that party chief in GERAKAN who has reportedly a Ph.D in Education from Princeton University, is it not so?
#15 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 4:45 am
Hey, look, I am not trying to rub it in hard –
JUST LOOK: how ironic it is that the GERAKAN chief is now in charge of government’s KPI when he did such a miserable job as CM in Penang for how many years was it again?
Sigh. MAMPU tak mampu. Mungkin Malaysia mampus itu macam itu-lah.
#16 by HJ Angus on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 8:32 am
thanks admin for the info. That helps all the older folks. :)
I also used to copy before submitting and repaste after getting the error message.
The other method was to submit a blank message until you get a Captcha that is easier to type.
I guess like garbage, much of the writing undergoes re-cycling!
#17 by k1980 on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 9:05 am
What about the umno-owned taxi companies which charge RM50 a day as rental fees so that the poor cab driver, who after earning RM80 a day after a hard day’s work, gets to keep only 30 bucks?
#18 by DAP man on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 9:39 am
Kelantan MB said a Chinese who fears God in more noble than a Malay who is corrupted.
I am sure the Penang CM and his father are more noble than all those corrupted and immoral UMNO leaders who are sucking this land dry.
#19 by Taikohtai on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 9:55 am
My brother told me this story when I was in Penang a week ago:
A chief reporter from KL was in Penang to try out the latest durians. After the usual Ang Hae (Red Prawn), Ho Lor, etc, he asked for a KohTsuKoon variety. Even the durian aficionado was baffled and asked for more details. His answer was …… ‘bo hoot’ one lah!
#20 by wanderer on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 10:15 am
There are still some good men around!…sadly, only found in the current PR Administrations in Bolehland.
Fence sitters and electorate mercenaries, do the right thing when next GE comes.
#21 by boh-liao on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 10:22 am
#15: Y “ironic it is that the GERAKAN chief is now in charge of government’s KPI when he did such a miserable job as CM in Penang for how many years”
Most ppl know by now dat if U r efficient, honest, n patriotic, U will never get a job in UmnoB-controlled gomen
If U r inefficient, corrupt, ‘bo hoot’, easily thumbed, n traitor (willing 2 go along exploiting d nation 2 enrich yourself n your masters), then U r prized by UmnoB n given a position even though U lost in d GE
KTK is a confirmed n perfect ‘bo hoot’ – dat’s Y NR loves him. QED
#22 by undertaker888 on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 10:41 am
A look at Penang Budget:
1970-Deficit
1971-deficit
1972-deficit
1973-deficit
1974-deficit
1975-deficit
1976-deficit
1977-deficit
1978-deficit
1979-deficit
1980-deficit
1981-deficit
1982-deficit
1983-deficit
1984-deficit
1985-deficit
1986-deficit
1987-deficit
1988-deficit
1989-deficit
1980-deficit
1981-deficit
1982-deficit
1983-deifict
1984-deficit
1985-deficit
1986-deficit
1987-deficit
1988-deficit
1989-deficit
1990-deficit
1991-deficit
1992-deficit
1993-deficit
1994-deficit
1995-deficit
1996-deficit
1997-deficit
1998-deficit
1999-deficit
2000-deficit
2001-deficit
2002-deficit
2003-deficit
2004-deficit
2005-deficit
2006-deficit
2007-deficit
2008-surplus
2009-surplus
1970-2007 was under the lanun regime. We have been robbed in broad daylight for almost 30 years.
#23 by yhsiew on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 11:19 am
I just could not imagine how much richer the rakyat would be if Lim Guan Eng were the Finance Minister.
If Lim Guan Eng could save RM33 million in petty things, how much more could he save in projects/contracts costing billions of ringgit?
#24 by penang lim on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 11:55 am
well done YB LGE – congratulations
#25 by artemisios on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 2:03 pm
bravo Penang State Govt.
One good job after another. Penang is showing how a REAL govt should run it’s operations.
The stench of fear & jealousy is heavy in Penang umno now.
I’m sure there will be more attacks on LGE, since he’s doing such a good job serving the rakyat of Penang. Most likely they will be religious/racial attacks created out of thin air.
#26 by k1980 on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 2:26 pm
If Anwar goes to jail for Sod2, umno will insist that the newly named Tun Dr Lim Cong Eu Expressway be renamed the Datuk Saifool Bukhari Expressway.
#27 by k1980 on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 2:36 pm
//two local councils in Penang have saved RM33 million//
Jib is laughing out aloud. Next year’s federal allocations for the two local councils in Penang will be less by RM33 million. RM33 million is just enough for Loh See Mah to do some shopping at the Champs Elyssee
#28 by Comrade on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 2:57 pm
Congratulations to YB GE Lim
For a job satisfactorily done
The nation needs leaders like him
For the good of country and everyone
He is popular not only that he is LKS son
But by his own virtue held in high esteem
Jealous Umno will not want to be outdone
Will there be more of their dirty scheme?
#29 by HJ Angus on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 4:27 pm
turning the state budget around is excellent work.
In fact we need to do the same with the federal budget where it seems spending monies with gay abandon is business as usual – latest case being the RM86mil new embassy in Cambodia. Of course not to forget the RM50+million just to renovate the PM’s residence. No wonder even the government minister declared Malaysia is headed for bankruptcy ala Greece and Ireland.
Who will bail us out?
#30 by boh-liao on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 4:47 pm
Under UmnoB/BN governance, very often more $$$ is pumped into on-going projects
Very seldom, projects completed with huge savings
Now, under PR governance, some projects renegotiated with huge savings
Y? Y? Y?
Did UmnoB, MIC, Gerakan, MIC slimeballs in Pg openly praise d huge savings achieved by PR 4 Penangites?
Did d 2 Gerakan Tengs raise their thumbs n say “Well done, PR, 4 saving $$$ 4 Penangites”?
#31 by boh-liao on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 5:03 pm
Under UmnoB/BN governance, very often more $$$ is pumped into on-going projects
Very seldom, projects completed with huge savings
Now, under PR governance, some projects renegotiated with huge savings
Y? Y? Y?
Did UmnoB, MIC, Gerakan, MIC slimeb@lls in Pg openly praise d huge savings achieved by PR 4 Penangites?
Did they raise their thumbs n say “Well done, PR, 4 saving $$$ 4 Penangites”?
#32 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 6:49 pm
Can I suggest LGE for Finance Minister after next GE?
Look I can’t trust any UMNO/BN baddie with my granddaughter’s piggybank.
#33 by boh-liao on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 7:45 pm
What abt dis Federal Government’s RM7mil Pg Botanic Gardens expansion project?
Wow, dis project really needs RM7mil aaaaaaaaaah?
#34 by tuahpekkong on Friday, 3 December 2010 - 10:22 pm
Gosh! Just by re-negotiating with two garbage disposal contractors of two local councils and you are able to save RM10 million per year. By extension, if we re-negotiate the terms and conditions of all garbage disposal contracts in the country, hundreds of millions of RM could be saved annually. Imagine if all Government contracts are ‘open’ instead of ‘closed’ tenders and we have strict monitoring of the contracts to prevent cost overruns, billions of precious money could be saved. Unfortunately, this ‘lost’ money ends up in the pockets of sleazy politicians and their cronies. These politicians who shoulded be booted out immediately still have the cheek to unabashedly canvass for votes and unashamedly ask why votes are not forthcoming.
Alas, this good deed of the Penang state Government led by DAP most likely won’t be reported in Utusan Melayu, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian. Maybe the New Straits Times won’t give it any coverage either. DAP will continue to be stereotyped as a racist, chauvinistic party bent on seizing power from a particular race.
#35 by boh-liao on Saturday, 4 December 2010 - 12:33 pm
PR-contolled states shld NOT b paiseh or modest 2 BLOW their own trumpets
List out FACTually all achievements accomplished n good/best practices carried out dat save $$$$ 4 rakyat, compared with those under previous BN’s governance
Let all voters know, esp those fr rural areas n small towns