Making An Online Complaint - Ipoh Echo

April 16, 2015 By Wong Mei Kuan

Ipoh City Council has introduced the e-Aduan system from the year 2009 for the convenience of city-dwellers in lodging their complaints. A media briefing on this online system was held at Pakeeza Restaurant, Ipoh recently to enlighten Ipohites on how the e-Aduan system works and how the Council monitors the complaints.

In his speech, Mayor Dato’ Harun Rawi recalled how people were hesitant to lodge their complaints before the introduction of the online system, as it would require them to be at the council physically or go through the process of writing a letter.

When using the e-Aduan system (http://aduan.mbi.gov.my), complainants are advised to submit a detailed complaint giving the exact location and allowing one week of processing time. All complaints received would be monitored during working hours and channelled to the respective departments and agencies for remedial actions.

During the briefing, the council’s principal assistant director of corporate affairs, Normala Latiff reminded users of the e-Aduan system to keep their reference number in order to check the status of their complaints later by keying it into the system.

Besides the e-Aduan online system, other avenues available for Ipohites include the Council’s hotline 255 1515 (8am-5pm), email aduan@mbi.gov.my, MySMS 15888 (type MBIAduanAduan) and WhatsApp 019 550 3083. Incomplete complaints will be rejected.

Normala advised the public not to send the same complaint via all the channels, as this would cause unnecessary delay.

Separate garbage from September or face fines - The Star

April 19, 2015

PUTRAJAYA: Households are urged to prepare themselves for the mandatory practice of separating garbage effective September.

Notices will be issued to those who flouted the rule starting September and a maximum compound of RM1,000 would be imposed on errant household by 2016.

Solid Waste and Solid Cleansing Management Corp (SWCorp) chief executive officer Datuk Ab Rahim Md Noor said every family member should know how to dispose garbage properly.

"Waste isolation will involve the disposal of food waste for the first two days of collection every week and the third day collection is for recyclable garbage," he told reporters at a 3R (Reduce Reuse Recycle) marathon run here.

"A company has been appointed to collect garbage in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Pahang, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kedah and Perlis. They will also observe and note down household who flout the rule," he said.

About 5,000 participants took part in the event, organised in conjunction with the two-day 3R carnival by SWCorp.

It was part of an awareness campaign on the importance of 3R practice and looking after the cleanliness of the environment for the sake of the future generation. - Bernama

Community Recycling Model Launched - Ipoh Echo

April 18 2015 - By Wong Mei Kuan

The first community recycling project involving the residents of Kampung Jelapang Tambahan was launched by the Executive Councillor for Women Development, Family and Welfare, Dato’ Hajah Rusnah Kassim at the Jelapang Community Hall recently. The programme was jointly organised by Ipoh City Watch, Perak Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation and Rukun Tetangga Jelapang.

With the rise of illegal dump sites in the city, this first-of-a-kind programme is aimed at inculcating good habits in residents and to encourage them to keep the environment clean. This can be achieved by garbage separation and recycling which can help residents to earn an extra income.

Kampung Jelapang Tambahan, which has some 226 households, was picked to spearhead this programme thus becoming the first community in Malaysia to use this technique of garbage separation.

Residents are taught how to separate unwanted items into various recyclable categories before selling it to an appointed collector who comes every Saturday from 8am-11am.

The weight of the items collected would be recorded for a period of 3 months and a correlation be established between the weight and the number of illegal dumpsites. The success of this project would create a model which could be emulated by other resident associations in Malaysia.

In her speech, Dato’ Hajah Rusnah called on Ipohites to support the initiative in order to achieve success. “If they don’t come forward, nothing will happen,” she said during the press conference.

ICW launched its first Community Recycling Project in Perak

April 5 2015 marked another milestone for Ipoh City Watch (ICW) when it has successfully launched the first Community Recycling Project in collaboration with Perak SW Corp and Rukun Tetangga Jelapang. 

The historical project was launched by YB Dato' Rusnah Kassim, the Perak State Committee Chairman for Women Development, Family and Community Welfare. Also present include Puan Hajah Fatimah Binti Ahmad, the Perak State SW Corp Director and Mr. Thinakaran Sarangabanly, chairman RT Jelapang. 

About 150 residents of Taman Jelapang Tambahan who will be involved in this project attended the occassion. Several Ipoh City Councillors and Community Heads were also present. Clr M. Veeran who represented the mayor Datuk Harun Rawi together with Clr Loh and Community head Low Guo Nan. The objective of the project is to educate and explain to the publis on the importance of garbage separation and recycling to help keep the environment clean, reduce illegal dumping and earn additional income from their efforts. 

This project will be closely monitored by SW Corp and ICW within the next three months to see its impact. The success of this project will help create a model for recycling for other communities in Malaysia.

Council to go green by 2020 - The Star

Feb 26 2015 - Ivan Loh 

THE Ipoh City Council is planning to replace its Ipoh Local Plan 2020 to reflect the times as rapid development is taking place.

Datuk Bandar Datuk Harun Rawi said the city council would conduct a study to review the plan, which was gazetted in 2012, and replace it with an updated plan.

“The studies will be conducted from time to time as zoning exercises and development takes place.

“It could take up to two years before the new plan could be in place,” he told journalists after chairing the city council fullboard meeting recently.

“We will also try to get the necessary approval and estimated allocations for the plan,” he said, adding that it was one of the city council’s programmes to turn Ipoh into a compact and liveable city.

Harun said a lot of factors within the current plan needs to be reviewed and changed.

“These include the public transportation masterplan and highrise developments,” he said.

“We have had lots of applications for project developments and these would also be studied,” he added.

Harun also said the city council would adopt a “green neighbourhood” concept by working on several initiatives.

He said the city council would work on two masterplans for bicycle paths and pedestrian paths.

“We will also work on several other initiatives including a rainwater harvesting system, community farming development and waste composting programmes,” he said.

“For new development projects, the city council has also set a requirement to introduce green technology,” he added.

On the safety aspect of the city, Harun said some RM339,000 has been allocated by the Local Government Department for a “bleaching” programme in Gugusan Manjoi.

He said studies have been conducted with the residents there and the city council is carrying out its programme to improve the infrastructure to make the area safer.

Making Ipoh A Liveable City - Ipoh Echo - April 1, 2015

The revamped and rebranded Ipoh City Watch (ICW) was officially launched by Dato’ Hj Samsudin Abu Hassan, Executive Councillor for Consumer Affairs, Human Resources, Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisations on Friday, January 23.

Its president, Associate Professor Dr Richard Ng said with the new committee members, ICW would be the voice of Ipohites in raising issues that affect their city.

“It’s a tall order but our vision is to make Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia. We’ll help protect the rights of ratepayers to have a clean, safe and healthy environment. We’ll stand up for the rights to be provided with all amenities as stipulated in the by-laws of the Local Government Act 1976,” he told Ipoh Echo.

Richard Ng took over as the new ICW president for the period of 2015-2016 when he was elected during the EGM held last November. The mandate given comes with a huge responsibility. The committee members will continue with what was set out by the founding members of ICW in November 2002. The only difference is the approach used and the higher expectations of the people.

“We’ll use the three E’s approach – Engage, Explain, Educate. That’s to meet and talk to the people, explain to them what’s right and what’s wrong and to create awareness on doing their part to keep Ipoh clean and safe. Our target is to conduct our walkabout at all 22 zones in the city,” said Richard.

“We want our representatives from all of the city’s 22 zones to highlight issues plaguing their areas, true to the slogan, ‘Our City, Our Responsibility’. We can then bring these up to the relevant authorities for action,” he stressed.

“Most importantly, we want to build bridges with the Ipoh City Council. It is a challenge, as we are often perceived as an Opposition group.”

According to the academician, the biggest challenge for ICW would be to educate the people. “They always think that the cleanliness and the safety of the city are the responsibility of the local and state governments. If everyone had played their roles, Ipoh would be so much cleaner. Engaging the city councillors is another challenge since many are not willing to work with us,” he lamented.

“Non-governmental organisations are going to be the third force that can enhance their responsibility. They should start engaging with us rather than consider us as troublemakers.”

Between November 2014 and March this year, ICW has held six gotong-royong, anti-dengue campaigns and walkabouts to raise awareness on cleanliness. “We’ve visited Jelapang, Buntong, Lim Garden, Taman Merdeka and Tambun,” he said.

It has organised several public forums, including one on GST and stray animals. “We plan to have a forum on solid waste management in May where we’ll invite experts to talk,” he said.

Apart from the cleanliness issue, another concern of ICW is safety. There were several snatch thefts and robberies reported by residents before Chinese New Year.

“During the previous mayor’s time, he installed a number of CCTVs in the city. We want to know the number and whether they’re still functioning,” he said, adding that a city that was clean and safe would also help boost property prices.

“The number of street lights should also be increased, especially in areas that are frequented by drug addicts. Pedestrian walkways should be improved in the city as it would encourage people to walk and lead a healthy lifestyle,” he reasoned.

The society currently has some 50 members and is looking to add more professionals to the group. The members are very active on the ground identifying problems that need to be tackled by the relevant agencies.

Ipoh City Watch