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By Goh Ban Lee. DESPITE the good wishes at the Esplanade to usher in 2010, Penang began the new year on a sour note. Complaints about lack of cleanliness, unfair parking tickets and swiftlet “hotels” are heard from Penangites, returning relatives and visitors. The most significant was the complaint about very dirty beaches at Batu Ferringhi by a Swedish tourist. The complaints about dirty Penang are legitimate. Even a casual observer cannot fail to notice the litter, clogged drains and occasional heaps of discarded furniture and construction waste, although many Penangites might have become numb to the situation and begun to accept the situation.
However, to put it in perspective, Penang Island is not the dirtiest municipality in the country. But it should be much cleaner. After all, George Town, the oldest city in the country, now houses a Unesco World Heritage Site. There is also the vision of an attractive International City. Penang Island is not only a tourist destination, but the home of the best known multi-national corporations in the world. Furthermore, the local authority has been managing solid waste and cleaning of public areas for more than 200 years. Most important of all, the ratepayers deserve to live in a clean environment. The sad fact is that cleanliness has never been a strong point of the island. Complaints about lack of cleanliness are perennial, especially during festive seasons when relatives return from Singapore, Australia and Europe. Indeed, Penang is probably the only municipality to have two former prime ministers, namely Tun Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, publicly commenting critically about the state of cleanliness, the former in 1991 and the latter in 2005. It was not a case of lack of effort, at least financially. The Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) spends more than a RM100 million or about half of its annual budget on solid waste management and public cleansing a year. Is the money well spent? It is the responsibility of the councillors to ensure that every cent is accounted for. In view of the complaints, especially the dirty beaches, some clarifications from them would be in order. It was, therefore, surprising for Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to explain that it was the non-extension of a contract. He even revealed the contract was not extended despite a “directive” to do it. Even with good intentions, the state government should not be involved in the clean-up of a specific area, especially in the award of a contract or its extension. It blurs accountability in urban management. It is important to remember that MPPP is not a state department, but a local government. Besides, the chief minister’s plate is already full with important state issues, such as economic development, security and poverty and policies on the environment, hill-slope development and land reclamation projects. The state government should just set the standards and general policies on solid waste management and public cleaning. It should leave it to the president and councillors to figure out the implementation, but hold them responsible and accountable for actions or lack of them. If the Penang state government wants a direct role in what the MPPP is doing or should do, the alternative is for the chief minister to take over the administration of the council, just as Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu did from 1966 to 1973. But it is also important to stress that the lack of cleanliness is not the responsibility of the MPPP alone. Penangites play a very big role. It is not possible for the island to be clean if the people discard rubbish everywhere.
Sadly, the progress in technology and economy has not been matched by a higher degree of civic consciousness. As such, while increasing wealth and technological innovations have allowed Penangites to buy more goods and generate more waste, including toxic varieties, their treatment of unwanted items has remained unchanged or even deteriorated. The Ugly Penangite syndrome is also reflected in indiscriminate parking, queue jumping and the disregard for the welfare of others, particularly the neighbours, colleagues and even strangers, while enjoying themselves. It is a reflection of the failure of our education system and societal development. As such, there is a new role for the state government in the cleanliness of the island. Besides holding the president and councillors accountable for cleanliness, it should designate a state executive councillor to be in charge of making Penangites better citizens. ** Reproduced with permission. This article first appeared in the January 12, 2010 issue of theSun. Dr Goh Ban Lee is interested in urban governance, housing and urban planning.
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