Rats

March 27, 2012
MPSP: Smoke out method effective in rodent control
Star

THE Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) will smoke out rodents from drains and alleyways, beginning with markets, to eradicate the population of the pests on the mainland.

Municipal councillor Francis Ong Koon Liak said the “smoke out” method, which was similar to fogging to destroy aedes mosquitoes and their larvae, was found to be effective in getting the rats out of their rut holes.

“The council’s Health Department officers use a combination of diesel and a chemical called Pesguard FG-161 to smoke out the rodents.

“The smoke brings discomfort to the rodents, forcing them to come out of their hiding place,” he said after Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy opened the council’s anti-rodent campaign at Chai Leng Park market on Sunday.

Ong said the department’s officers successfully caught 16 rats in less than 30 minutes during a smoke out activity at the campaign opening at the market.
Rat hunt: MPSP Health Department officers using fogging machines to drive out rats from drains during an operation at Chai Leng Park market

He said the activity would be carried out after business hours at the markets to avoid inconveniencing shoppers and contaminating the food.

“I have set aside RM10,000 from my councillor’s allocation funds for the project, which was first initiated at the Mak Mandin market in January.

“Apart from giving out free rat traps to the public, the council has also announced that it will give RM1 to the public for every rat surrendered dead or alive to its Health Department,” he said.

Ong said the response toward the ‘rat trapping’ promotion in Mak Mandin was rather slow as the public there had surrendered only 15 rats throughout January.

“But, it could also mean that there are less rats in the neighbourhood in that area.

“Next month, we will head to the markets in Kepala Batas and Nibong Tebal with a similar promotion there,” he said.

Dr Ramasamy said those who surrendered rats at the council’s rat-surrendering counter at the Chai Leng Park market up till April 25, would receive RM1.50 per rat instead, as his Prai service centre would top up 50sen for every rat surrendered.

The rat-surrendering counter is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 9am and 11am.

For details, contact the council’s health officers Khairil Anwar Othman (019-4086863) or Mohd Fadhil Din (012-5134686).

Green Lifestyle

March 6, 2012
MPSP to promote green lifestyle via cycling activity
By DERRICK VINESH
Star

THE Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) has come up with an MPSP Green Ride programme to promote cycling among the ratepayers in Seberang Prai, Penang.

Council president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said the initiative was part of the council’s efforts to create eco-communities among the mainlanders as outlined in its Fokus 2012 Transformation Plan.

“We want to create communities that are both healthy and environment-conscious.

“Apart from helping the people to stay fit through cycling, we also encourage people to get closer to nature,” she said in an interview on Sunday.

The MPSP Green Ride programme will be held on the third Sunday in every two months, starting with a pilot event at the Bertam Sports Complex in Kepala Batas at 7am on March 18.

Maimunah said the programme was jointly organised by the Love Pedalling Mountain Bike Club, North Seberang Prai Environment Centre’s cycling team and the Tasek Gelugor Riders.

“About 200 cycling enthusiasts will take part in the pilot event. They will begin a trial ride from the Bertam Sports Complex to Bumbung Lima, Kuala Muda, Penaga, Lahar Kepar and back to the complex, covering a distance of 32km,” she said.

On a different matter, Maimunah said MPSP had recently changed the name of its Local Agenda 21 programme to Local Action (LA) 21 programme, to give it a more action-oriented punch.

She said six working committees were created and headed by councillors for LA 21.

The LA 21 Eco-Friendly Working Committee is headed by councillor (Soon Lip Chee), Women’s Excellence Committee (Tan Xin Ying), Green Industry Promotions Committee (Lim Tau Hoong), Electronic Waste Disposal Committee (Ahmad Farid Md Arshad), Pet Care Committee (Liu Ting Ling) and Ampangan Flats People’s Housing Project (Noramin Ramli).

Garbage Collection

March 2, 2012
Better rubbish collection on the way with RM20mil allocation
Star

THE Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) will come up with a better arrangement to handle garbage collection and cleaning services after receiving a RM20mil allocation from the state government.

Council president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said the amount was in addition to MPSP’s own allocation of RM65mil for the services that was approved last October under the council’s Budget 2012.

“We welcome the additional sum, which we will use to buy related equipment and vehicles, and employ more general workers,” she said.

Maimunah said the state executive council, which approved the RM20mil last month, had asked MPSP to review and restructure its arrangement on garbage collection and cleaning services.

She said the state exco had also asked MPSP to cancel the appointment of new private cleaning contractors, although more than 2,000 tender applications were received when tender closed on Oct 17 last year.

“MPSP was in the midst of short-listing the applicants but had yet to pick the successful ones,” she said.

Maimunah said MPSP had initially proposed to integrate its cleaning services by dividing the work into 37 zones, whereby 33 zones would be privatised, while four zones would be handled by MPSP itself.

Each contractor, she said, was supposed to handle garbage collection, drain-sweeping and tree-pruning within a particular zone, as opposed to the present arrangement where 110 contractors handled different jobs all over the mainland.

“The state is receptive towards our integrated system proposal, but wants us to review our zone arrangement to have MPSP cover more zones and depend less on the private contractors.

“Perhaps this way, we can provide more job opportunities to locals, as MPSP only hires locals compared to the private contractors which hire mainly foreign workers,” said Maimunah after chairing a full council meeting at the MPSP headquarters in Bandar Perda, Bukit Mertajam, on Wednesday.

She said the council would renew the contracts of the existing private contractors on a month-to-month basis up to June before coming up with a better arrangement.

PKR whip Johari Kassim, however, said he was disappointed with the state exco’s decision to cancel the appointment of new private contractors, as fellow municipal councillors had deliberated at length with council officers last year to come up with the zone-based integrated cleaning service plan.

He said there was a pressing need to appoint new cleaning contractors as the existing contracts that were signed in 2006 expired last December.

“It will be easier to terminate private contractors when they cannot deliver, but it might be difficult to do the same to the council’s own staff when they fail to do the job well,” he said.

Eco-dream, Eco-Community

February 22, 2012
Towards eco-dream
Star

IF the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) has its way, the municipality will be an eco-lover’s dream.

It has laid out a plan in its effort to strive towards green growth in the municipality this year.

Its president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said the plan focused on restoration and greening of urban areas and the establishment of an eco- community.

She said there would also be focus on planning and development, enforcement, revenue increment and cost efficiency efforts, community participation in fiscal management and the development of human capital capacity.

“Our target is to accomplish 31 programmes and 127 activities which have been laid out for each of the seven focus areas this year,” she said.

She was giving a presentation at the Penang Symposium on ‘Greening Urban Growth’ at a hotel in Batu Ferringhi, Penang, yesterday.

Maimunah spoke on the topic ‘What Are the respective Roles of National and Municipal Authorities in Defining and Implementing Green Growth?’.

She said the council would continue to practise sustainability in development.

“We realise the importance of sustainability and we are now focusing on green planning in terms of procurement and expenditure,” she said.

Maimunah stressed that it was important to get the whole community involved in running services which could contribute to green growth.

The two-day symposium was hosted by the Growth Dialogue and Think City with the support of the World Bank Institute and Khazanah Nasional

Batu Kawan Eco-Town

March 15, 2012
Brighter times ahead
By DERRICK VINESH
Photos by MUSTAFA AHMAD
Star

RESIDENTS in Batu Kawan, South Seberang Prai, are eagerly awaiting the completion of the RM4.5bil Second Penang Bridge, which will connect their hometown to Batu Maung on the island.

The oil palm estate, which is fast shedding its kampung image, is set to become an industrialised township, with the bridge spurring various economic activities and spillover benefits to the surrounding areas.

Local resident Tan Ah Bah, 86, said that in his younger days, he used to walk for miles, ride on horse carts and take boat and ferry rides to go places from his Pengkalan fishing village in Batu Kawan.

“About 60 years back, I remember taking 30-minute long sampan (boat) rides for dua duit (two cents) per ride to travel from Batu Kawan to Bukit Tambun and vice-versa.

“Later on, there were three types of ferry services that were introduced, which were eventually re-placed by tarred roads and small bridges in the 90s,” he said.

To get to George Town, Tan said he used to ride on a sampan from Batu Kawan to Bukit Tambun, then ride on a horse cart to Simpang Ampat before taking a bus to Bagan (now Butterworth) and later boarding a boat fuelled by coal to cross the Penang Channel to the island.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that someday a bridge connecting the island would be built from the humble Batu Kawan village here,” he said with a broad smile.

Fellow resident Chew Kean Nam, 28, said Pengkalan village had one of the country’s oldest Teochew temples in the northern region — the Ban See Ang Temple — that was built somewhere in the early 1800s.

He said the local community would be celebrating the birthday of the temple deity — Xuan Tian Shang Di — with special prayers this Friday and a grand float procession featuring 12 floats on a 7.5km-long journey in Batu Kawan town at 7pm this Saturday.

Batu Kawan estate resident P. Parvathi, 63, an ex-oil palm estate general worker, said Batu Kawan residents had long been waiting for a major transformation to take place in the area to help elevate their economic status.

Of days gone by: An old photograph of a ferry carrying vehicles and passengers from Bukit Tambun to Batu Kawan

“Three generations of my family have been living here and we strongly believe that the new bridge project will help create more job oppor-tunities for the locals here,” she said.

Her neighbour M. Amaravathi, 73, said she hoped the government would help build a hospital, market, recreation parks, colleges and places of worship in Batu Kawan.

Student M. Gaayathiri, 22, who is pursuing a human resources management diploma at Island College of Technology in Balik Pulau, said instead of spending more than two hours taking the ferry, she hoped to use the bridge to travel to her college from Batu Kawan.

Foodstall operator Zalina Sakan, 36, said she hoped more shopping centres would soon be built in Batu Kawan, noting that at present many locals travelled far to Bukit Mertajam, Prai, Nibong Tebal and Parit Buntar to do their shopping.

“I hope more factories will set up operations here in Batu Kawan, as the workforce will create a demand for more restaurants and eateries to open to cater to the needs of the growing population,” she said.

Zalina said she hoped the authorities would widen the road leading to the State Stadium in Batu Kawan, noting that the present single-lane road stretch was insufficient to cope with high traffic volume, especially when football matches are held at the stadium.

General worker Shakir Baharom, 55, said he expected the prices of property in the neighbourhood to double, if not triple, with the opening of the Second Penang Bridge.

“At present, a single-storey terrace house that was originally sold at RM58,000 is now going for RM120,000.

“The residents here look forward to the state government’s affordable housing scheme project that will soon be built here in Batu Kawan, but we hope priority will be given to the locals,” he said.

School canteen operator Rosidah Din, 43, said at present there were only three schools — SK Batu Kawan, SMK Batu Kawan and SJK(T) Ladang Batu Kawan — located in the town, adding that she hoped there would be more schools built in the future.

Another resident Salina Bakar, 45, said currently there were only 10 housing schemes in the area, adding that many middle-income earners there hoped more single-storey terrace housing units would be built there.

Fellow resident Murazali Allabah, 63, said he hoped the government would take special efforts to preserve Batu Kawan’s last three Malay, Chinese and Indian villages — Kam-pung Mesjid, Kampung Pengkalan and Ladang Batu Kawan — respectively.

“These three villages are culturally unique and could be used as tourism sites apart from promoting the State Stadium, Bukit Tambun seafood paradise and Pulau Aman homestay here,” he said.

Fisherman Ong Kah Ho, 63, said the bridge’s alignment had affected fish, shrimp and cockle catches in the area, but the fishermen there had found new sites to fish.

------------------------------------------
Friday July 22, 2011
Eco-town concept for Batu Kawan
Star

BUTTERWORTH: The Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) has been tasked with turning Batu Kawan in Central Seberang Prai into an Eco-town with high standards of sustainability.

State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said many green plots of land in Batu Kawan could be incorporated into the area’s development plans.

“Apart from physically greening Batu Kawan, it is also important to look at introducing sustainable green and eco-friendly practices in the area.

“We hope Batu Kawan can become a model for other townships to eventually adopt an Eco-town concept that promotes a healthy living environment,” he said after representing Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in opening the Penang Green Industry Conference at Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya here yesterday.

Chow said Eco-towns in England followed certain standards, such as possessing a minimum of 30 per cent affordable housing, a minimum of 40 per cent green space, high recycling rates and zero carbon emission.

He said development in Batu Kawan was expected to pick up upon the completion of the second Penang bridge linking Batu Maung on the island.

MPSP president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said since Batu Kawan was earmarked for mixed development, it was vital to ensure the township’s overall planning, including its building designs and layout, is eco- friendly.

Maimunah had initiated an Eco-town programme for the Bayan Baru new town and Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in 2006 when she was with the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP).

“The green concept must be incorporated right from the drawing board to ensure the area’s industries, commercial and residential units complement one another in their green practices,” she said.

CSR Landscaping Programme

Friday July 1, 2011
Beautifying Penang mainland
Star

KEPALA BATAS: The public will be allowed to give their feedback on a pilot corporate social responsibility (CSR) landscaping programme initiated by the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP).

Council president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said while government agencies and corporate companies were invited to sponsor and maintain the programme, public views on its design and suitability would be sought before it is carried out.

“Our CSR landscaping programme, which has more than 20 projects under it, is similar to the one currently practised by the Penang Municipal Council.

“But, we wanted to include the people’s feedback in this public sector-private sector initiative to ensure that the programme is accepted by the people,” she said after chairing a full council meeting at Dewan Milenium here yesterday.

Maimunah said the council had identified 25 strategic locations on the mainland for the projects to help make Seberang Prai more vibrant and beautiful.

She said the public could convey their feedback on the projects’ proposals via municipal councillors or by sending emails to the council’s website at http://www.mpsp.gov.my/.

“The council might also hold exhibitions on the project designs in the different Seberang Prai districts for the public to view them and give their feedback.

“When I was the general manager for George Town World Heritage Incorporated, I sought feedback from several Carnavon Street residents before we conducted the beautification work,” she said.

At present, Maimunah said, private developer MMC-Gamuda JV Sdn Bhd under its CSR initiative, had proposed that a monumental park called Taman Tugu Kota Demokrasi Bagan be constructed in Jalan Permatang Pauh, near Taman Bagan, Butterworth.

She added that Bertam Properties Sdn Bhd had also agreed to fulfil its town planning requirement, by spending nearly RM1mil to create a Vision Park within its development project in Bertam, Kepala Batas.

“All applications to sponsor and maintain the CSR landscaping programme, will be vetted through a special committee in the council and not via department heads,” she said.

Landfill Gas Project

Saturday May 7, 2011
Landfill gas project to generate RM12mil royalties for MPSP
Star

THE Pulau Burung landfill will generate between RM12mil to RM14mil of royalties over the next 12 years for Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) due to the proposed landfill gasification project.

The project will see the building of a gasification mechanism on 33 hectares of land at Phase I of the landfill.

It will be carried out by Bionersis Enterprise Incorporated, a French-based company which specialises in landfill gas valorisation.

Its Asia Pacific regional managing director Pascal Voisin said the company had the technology to capture and destroy biogas from landfills, which is made up of 50% methane, a greenhouse gas content which is 21 times more harmful than carbon dioxide (C02).

By destroying the biogas, the company will be entitled to receive carbon credits (CERs).

For each tonne of C02 equivalent destroyed, 1 CER is received by the company.

Bionersis sells its CERs to specialised markets or directly to compliance buyers for revenue, Voisin said.

Under the Kyoto Protocol (Global Warming) Agreement, industrialised countries are required to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% from the levels in 1990.

Industrialised countries are allowed to meet their targets by trading emission allowances between themselves, and also by gaining credits for emission-curbing projects in developing countries.

Pascal added that the company would also be having talks with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) on utilising the captured methane to generate renewable energy.

“However, we will need a few months to assess the quantity and quality of the gas. Once we have the required quality and quantity of gas, the engines and generators will be installed to produce electricity,” he said, adding that it was estimated to produce some 10mW/hr in power capacity.

Pascal added that electricity generation would probably only take place at the end of next year.

State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said as landfill gas (LFG) is a potent greenhouse gas and air pollutant, the state government and its local municipalities had decided to tackle this source of pollution.

“The company was selected from eight companies, which submitted full proposals to the state Economic Planning Unit (Upen) in 2009. After evaluation and assessment, the technical review panel and Upen on March 31 last year had shortlisted Bionersis to carry out the project, the first of its kind in Penang.”

He said among the factors considered during the short-listing process was experience in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project, royalties to the local authority, application technologies, project funding mechanism and impact assessment to the landfill.

“Financial implication to the state and local authorities and the feasibility studies of the project were also taken into account,” he said.

He was speaking after the project’s signing ceremony in Komtar on Thursday between Bionersis and MPSP.

MPSP president Maimunah Mohd Sharif described it as another step towards a cleaner, greener Penang.

Work on the gasification mechanism is expected to begin sometime in June and to be ready for commission about one year later, at a cost of around RM13.3mil.

Once ready, about four to five employees of the company will be employed to manage it.

MPSP news

Friday April 22, 2011
MPSP revs up for a new roleStar

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Some 20 traffic control officers from the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) will hit the streets today to guide traffic in congested Seberang Prai areas.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the officers were given auxiliary police power under the council’s bylaws, which included issuing summonses to errant motorists who parked haphazardly and caused congestion.

“These officers are not replacing the duty of traffic policemen. They will instead assist them in ensuring smoother traffic flow in those areas.

“The officers, who would wear new uniforms, comprised 10 security officers and 10 auxiliary policemen from the council,” he said after introducing the council’s traffic control service at its headquarters in Bandar Perda yesterday.

Lim said the officers would be stationed in the state government’s park-and-ride area in Bandar Sunway as well as car parks in markets, council-run hawker centres and venues.

“The officers, who will work between 8.30am and 5pm, will also help out during state and council-organised events and dinners,” he said, adding that the Penang Municipal Council would set up a similar team of traffic control officers next month.

Lim mooted the idea of forming traffic control units when he was caught in a traffic snarl along the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway while on board a Rapid Penang bus after launching the Bridge Express Shuttle Transit free park-and-ride system in Seberang Jaya on March 1.

MPSP - from deficit to surplus

MPSP is the administrative council overseeing the running of mainland Penang. This is something that rakyat of Butterworth will be proud of with the new Pakatan Government. Read the story by Romerz below:-

Slightly more than two years ago, Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai (MPSP) was ailing financially. Remember MPSP having to absorb responsibility for the white elephant called the Batu Kawan stadium built by the previous administration despite protests from local civil activists? Remember the over-priced spanking new MPSP building which cost them RM80 million when the same building could have been built at under RM40 million?

The MPSP was a different creature all together then. Then it was a creation of corrupt politicians (and their appointees) who wielded the reigns of power in Penang. But thankfully not anymore since 2008.

Just to give you an idea about MPSP's finances, look at the chart below.

MPSP Surplus/(Deficit)
2000 - (RM5.1 million)
2001 - (RM31.2 million)
2002 - (RM36.7 million)
2003 - (RM39.0 million)
2004 - (RM48.9 million)
2005 - (RM57.1 million)
2006 - (RM5.4 million)
2007 - (RM5.1 million)
2008 - RM3.0 million
2009 - RM14.6 million
2010 - RM54.39 million (as at 4 October 2010)

Now tell me who are the better administrators, where public money is concerned and should be used for the public, and those who regard public money as "loot" to be shared amongst themselves and their cronies?

Imperfect as Pakatan Rakyat may be at the moment, at least they don't steal from us and the public's money is being protected and enhanced by appointed professionals! To the detractors of PR, yes I agree their problems may be unpalatable to many of us who yearn for meaningful change from race politics and self-interests but surely they are the ONLY choice when we only have a rock and a hard place to choose from, given the present electorate's indifference and ignorance.