Learn From The Filipinos - Ipoh Echo

16 Sept 2015 by Dr. Richard Ng

The appointment of former President of Manjung Municipal Council, Dato’ Zamri Man, as the new mayor of Ipoh on July 1 was well received by Ipohites.

As President of Ipoh City Watch (ICW), I am delighted to note that he is bringing with him his experiences from Manjung, the third best-managed local council in Malaysia, to Ipoh.

We are more delighted when he said his vision is to make Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia through an inclusive administrative system. That is exactly what we are striving for at ICW.

When asked by reporters on his first day of work, Dato’ Zamri has made known his intention of working with NGOs and civil society groups to solve the various issues plaguing Ipoh. He hoped to improve the city in a year’s time, in terms of cleanliness and other criteria set under the state government's Amanjaya policy.

Just three weeks ago The Economist reported the results of a liveability survey on 140 cities in the world. Melbourne has once again emerged as the most liveable city in the world for the fifth consecutive time based on a set of 30 criteria which include safety, healthcare, educational resources, environment and infrastructure. Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Baru are ranked at the bottom half of the list with Tripoli, Lagos, Port Moresby, Dhaka and Damascus listed as the five least liveable cities.

Comparing Ipoh with Melbourne is unfair, as we are at a different end of the continuum. However, it is not a sin to make Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia. Two pertinent issues that affect Ipohites are economy and safety, which are part of the liveability survey variables. In terms of safety and security, ICW is working closely with the Police and other NGOs to provide feedback and ways to improve the city’s security.

Economy will improve when we have a good business-and-industry-driven environment coupled with good policies that can attract investors. We need good infrastructure such as a good transportation system. Ipoh’s reasonably cheap and good food is already a plus point. However, the rise in dengue cases will be a pull-down factor. We too hope this is not the reason why it is so difficult to get dengue statistics on cases affecting each housing area within Ipoh. But what we do know is that the number of dengue cases is correlated to the number of illegal dumpsites, clogged drains, overgrown grass and abandoned houses.

Maybe comparing Ipoh with Los Banos and Tuguegarao, two small cities in Philippines, will be fairer. Both are slightly smaller than Taiping. What fascinated me during my recent visit there was the level of cleanliness. They are definitely very clean. I could not find one single illegal dumpsite for which Ipoh is famous.

I had the opportunity to speak to the head of environment of Los Banos’s Local Council and we shared our experience in managing solid waste. To start off, their mayor is elected by the people and garbage is one of the issues raised by Filipinos. Los Banos has 14 ‘barangays’ or gardens. They started garbage separation and recycling about 10 years ago. When it was first launched in 2005 they received strong objection and rejection from the people. But today, keeping their environment clean is part of their culture.

The new elected Mayor Perez of Los Banos has come out with a 10-year Strategic Action Plan (2013-2023) which requires Los Banos Municipal to divert 50 per cent of the biodegradable waste and recyclables from going to the sanitary landfill in 2016.

In both cities, the people are required to bring out only biodegradable waste, which includes organic waste, from Monday to Friday for collection between 8pm and 9pm. The non-biodegradable must be taken out and sent to a designated collection centre only on every Saturday between 8pm and 9pm. Those found placing garbage outside their residence will be penalised by paying a 50 pesos (RM4.50) fine and their garbage will not be collected.

The organic waste collected are then sent for composting where they are put into a large shredding machine and then mixed with soil and night crawlers to turn into organic fertiliser within 10 days. This fertiliser is then used for their landscape plants while some are given free to farmers.

I also found recycling bins placed in strategic locations in the city of Tuguegarao where residents can place plastic bottles and cans, which we do not have in Ipoh. The flower pots in town are painted with creative words such as “Save the Earth. We have nowhere to Go”, “Cleanliness starts within yourself”, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, and “Be Clean in Thoughts, Words and Deeds”.

ICW has helped implement the Community Recycling Programmes involving 250 households in Jelapang Tambahan in collaboration with Perak SWCorp and Rukun Tetangga Jelapang. The project launched in April 2015 has produced positive results when more than 4 tonnes of garbage are saved from going to the landfill or illegal dumpsites with a recycling rate of 17 per cent, higher than the national average of 10 per cent.

The success has resulted in two more recycling programmes involving Buntong and Lim Garden residents. It will be launched on Saturday, September 19 at the Indian Recreational Club padang at 3.30pm by Dato’ Hajah Rusnah Kassim, Executive Councillor for Women’s Development, Family, Welfare, Caring Society, Housing and Local Government. All Ipohites are cordially invited to the function and learn about garbage separation and composting.

Recycling Project Launch - Ipoh Echo

1 Oct 2015 by Nantini Krishnan

Ipoh City Watch (ICW) successfully launched the Buntong and Lim Garden Community Recycling Project in collaboration with the Perak Solid Waste Management and Public Cleanliness Corp (SWCorp).

The event was held at the Sri Maha Mariamman Hall, Buntong on Saturday, September 19 and was officiated by Dato’ Rosnah Kassim, the Executive Councillor for Women and Family Development, Social Welfare and Housing and Local Government. Present at the ceremony were Hajah Fatimah Ahmad, Perak SWCorp Director, Ipoh City Councillor M. Veeran, who represented the mayor and ICW President, Dr Richard Ng.

The objective of the project was to educate residents of Lim Garden and Buntong on the importance of garbage separation and recycling in order to help keep the environment clean.

Ipoh City Watch’s other initiative to reduce solid waste is by composting. A demonstration on composting was shown during the launch.The process is to convert organic wastes such as food to organic fertiliser.

According to Dr Richard Ng, the goal of community recycling is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills by promoting the culture of recycling in the community.

“Community recycling is the best option for the public. The programme is not difficult to put to practice and is best conducted via active engagement with the end-users,” said Rusnah in her opening remarks.

Some 150 residents from both housing estates attended the launching ceremony.

SWCorp has established garbage collection points in Lim Garden and Buntong. It is a good start for residents to do their part in garbage separation which will become mandatory in the country soon.

NGOs call for engagement with ratepayers to prepare for solid waste law - The Malay Mail

15 Sept 2015  By Farahin MH Noor

IPOH, Sept 15 — Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have called for  an extensive public engagement exercise to get residents prepared for the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Act, touted to take effect within the next couple of years.

Ipoh Ratepayers and Taxpayers Association deputy president Victor Sankey said although the move to privatise waste collection was good, it could turn out to be a failure in Perak.

He said he was not aware of whether Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp) had met ratepayers to explain its disposal operations. 

“As far as I know, there has been no public engagement. We are ill-informed about the solid waste management plan. No party has made any attempt to clarify the matter to the public,” he said. 

Sankey said there should be town hall meetings with NGOs, communities and residents associations to ensure efficiency of implementation once the Act was enforced.

“Such meetings will help iron out ambiguities, answer inquiries as well as entertain proposals raised by the ratepayers,” he said.

Perak Consumers Association president Abdul Rahman Said Alli said the implementation of the Act would encourage recycling. However, the implementation mode was wrong, and it should not be  profit-based.

“The company’s priority should be to serve the people because we, the taxpayers, are their biggest funder,” he said.

Abdul Rahman said he was not against privatisation of services, provided they were carried out in accordance with the law.

“Both the state government and SWCorp must declare the operational cost to the people so they can see the value for money that they will receive,” he said.

Ipoh City Watch (ICW) president Dr Richard Ng said the state government should adopt the Act.

“The people have been yearning to have good waste management services. ICW urges the state government to go for it,” he said.

“The current waste management system is no longer efficient. There are over 2,000 illegal dumpsites in Ipoh alone, and they make up about two-thirds of the whole of Perak.”

Ng said by signing the waste disposal agreement, the local councils could hand over the waste management service to efficient and effective parties.

Yeoh Say Bah is unsung hero no more - The Malaysian Insider

Sept 22, 2015 by Jerry Francis

Retired lorry driver Yeoh Say Bah, 75, whose selflessness led to him becoming a local hero in Taman Tinggi and the surrounding housing estates, has won kudos from the establishment, too.

Last Saturday, he was presented with a certificate of appreciation from state Women, Family, Community Welfare Development and Housing committee chairman Datuk Rusnah Kassim at the launch of Buntong and Lim Garden’s 3Rs project at Indian Recreation Club in Buntong, Ipoh.

Yeoh also received a basket of organic vegetables, a painting made of recycled materials and a bag of goodies.

Earlier, a video clip was shown of him performing the daily chores he had taken upon himself at the playground and jogging track near his house in Taman Tinggi.

Every morning, from Monday to Friday, weather permitting, he is seen with a cangkul and rack trimming the grass and generally tidying up the place.

The Malaysian Insider reported in July the story of the man whose unusual activities were at first regarded with suspicion and mocked by the neighbours.

One day, more than a year ago, he had decided to trim the grass around the track. While he was at it, he thought, he might as well pick up the litter and make sure that the drains were unclogged.

It became a regular routine. As other senior citizens were taking a morning walk, he was attending to the playground.

In the beginning, everyone thought Yeoh was eccentric. Some ridiculed him and asked whether he was being paid by the city council.

When they realised that he was doing it for the simple pleasure of seeing the place spick and span, they warmed up and become admiring and respectful.

They would often stop to talk with the man, who was always ready for a chat.

A whip-round was even held to to get him a new hoe.

Regarding the presentation, the modest Yeoh said he had been reluctant but was persuaded to attend when told that he would serve to inspire the people he met.

“I hope I can inspire them to also keep the neighbourhood clean and tidy,” he said.

Fed up with illegal dumps, group takes on waste recycling - The Malaysian Insider

Sept 25 2015 By Jerry Francis

Concerned by the mammoth problem of illegal dumps in Ipoh, non-governmental organisation Ipoh City Watch and waste management company SWCorp Perak have joined forces to encourage residents to recycle their solid waste.

“It is part of our greater aim to reduce illegal dumping and solid waste materials being sent to landfills,” said Victor Chew, secretary of Ipoh City Watch.

Encouraged by the response to its first “3R Project” in Jelapang Tambahan, two similar schemes were set up last weekend in Buntong and Lim Garden, launched by Perak Women, Family, Community Welfare Development, Housing and Local Government chairman Datuk Rusnah Kassim, at Dewan Sri Maha Mariamman, Jalan Sungai Pari, Buntong.

More such schemes will gradually be set up all over the city and other parts of the state.

“The scheme in Jalapang Tambahan, which was set up in April, has been a success,” said Chew. “There were 12 illegal dumpsites in the area but now there are barely a handful.

“To date, the residents of Jelapang Tambahan have collected 4,000kg of recyclables plastics, paper and metal waste for sale.”

In addition, this project also encourages the conversion of food waste into compost, thus further reducing 43% of solid waste produced by each home.

Compost can be used as organic fertilizer to produce toxin free vegetables and fruits, promoting a healthier lifestyle.

Illegal dumps, created by indiscriminate dumping of all kinds of waste along roads in residential areas and in secluded places in most parts of the city, have been posing a health problem for many years.

It is estimated there are more than 15,000 such sites throughout the city. Ipoh City Council appears to be helpless as each time it clears an illegal dump a new site will emerge somewhere else.

Mayor after mayor has come in with a determination to solve the problem, but left without achieving it.

Melbourne named world's most liveable city, for fifth year running - The Age

Aug 19, 2015

Melbourne has topped The Economist's liveability rankings for a fifth consecutive year.

But planning experts have warned that, while the liveability rankings were "marketing nirvana", they were meaningless for much of Melbourne, and got in the way of improving the city.

And a social services group said the ranking failed to recognise the growing disparity between those rich enough to live where good jobs and services were, and those in areas of high unemployment, poor transport and entrenched disadvantage.

Australian cities were found to be "a relative picture of stability", while 20 per cent of the cities surveyed by The Economist magazine's Intelligence Unit experienced declines in liveability over the past year.

Melbourne was ranked the world's most liveable city, Adelaide fifth, Sydney seventh, Perth eighth and Brisbane 18th. None of these cities saw their ranks change in this year's report.

The most liveable cities in the world were Melbourne, Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Adelaide and Calgary.

The survey's editor Jon Copestake said while Melbourne remained top for a fifth year, the "hostage siege in Sydney late last year has put Australia on a high terror alert, which could affect future scores" for Australian cities.

The cities found to be least liveable were Tripoli in Libya, Lagos in Nigeria, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Damascus in Syria.

The rankings are the result of scores for "lifestyle challenges" in 140 cities worldwide, and issues such as housing affordability are not considered.

The report, which costs $5795 for a year's subscription, is used by multinational companies to decide on relative pay for employees when they move cities for work.

It recommends a percentage amount employees should get on top of their salary if they move to a city with a poor liveability ranking where "most aspects of living are severely restricted".

Each of the cities chosen is assigned a rating of "relative comfort" for 30 factors across five categories: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure.

Each factor in a city is then rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable, to reach a score out of 100.

Melbourne this year scored 97.5 marks out of 100, including full marks for infrastructure.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said Melburnians might not appreciate how good their city was.

Cr Doyle said the ranking was "huge for us" and that many Melburnians did not realise how well known the city was for being ranked the most liveable.

"In a very competitive tourism or education market, this becomes a very important sale point for Melbourne," he said, speaking outside the Melbourne Town Hall on Tuesday.

But the Lord Mayor also warned that the city's infrastructure was lacking and noted there were problems with road congestion - and then confirmed that he was being driven the 450 metres from the Town Hall to his next meeting at 101 Collins Street. Cr Doyle has previously encouraged Melburnians to use public transport rather than cars.

Questioned over his use of a car to travel such a short distance, Cr Doyle said he often got the tram.

"How many of you came to this press conference in a tram? Did you bring the cameras on the tram? Maybe not," he said.

Adam Terrill is a town planner with Tract Consultants, which has previously worked with The Age to produce a liveability study comparing the city's 314 suburbs  (South Yarra, East Melbourne and Armadale topped the list, Sunshine North, 

Bayswater North and Hallam were at the bottom).

He said The Economist report only served to highlight how much "liveability" varied across the city.

"We need to focus on improving the liveability of outer areas and allow more people to live in inner areas," said Mr Terrill. 

He said much of Melbourne was becoming increasingly expensive to live in.

"Large parts of Melbourne are unaffordable – the challenge is to share this liveability by finding homes for new residents that they can afford," he said.

The Victorian Council of Social Service said the ranking ignored the high number of people living in areas of entrenched disadvantage.

"Inner city Melbourne is an attractive proposition for international recruiters who use [this survey] to lure prospective employees," said the council's chief executive Emma King.

"The reality is very different for people who can't afford to live where the vast bulk of services are."

Committee for Melbourne chief Kate Roffey said there were always questions about rankings, "and in particular how and what they measure, but there is no doubt The Economist Intelligence Unit ranking … is a significant achievement".

She said while Melbourne ranked well in both The Economist survey and a recent ranking by Monocle magazine, Melbourne still had much to do regarding "city-shaping infrastructure projects, maximising access to jobs ... and making sure we remain a liveable city for everyone by providing more affordable housing".

Melbourne University urban planning professor Carolyn Whitzman said the report accurately assessed the city as a great place for international executives to do business.

"What it doesn't measure is the inequalities between urban areas," she said, also questioning the inclusion of "liveability" as a key goal of Melbourne's last three planning strategies.

"It's garbage," Professor Whitzman said, noting that the city's urban sprawl meant its environmental footprint also ranked extremely highly internationally.

She said the liveability ranking was all too often used to shut down conversations about the real problems with planning Melbourne.

"It is used as a tool to cut off talk about how we might do better," Professor Whitzman said.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbourne-named-worlds-most-liveable-city-for-fifth-year-running-20150818-gj1he8.html#ixzz3l9z1Wh9N
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What waste separation, ask city folk as scheme becomes compulsory today - Malaysian Insider

1 Sept 2015

Mandatory waste separation at source starts in many parts of Malaysia today, including the capital, but a large number of folk in Kuala Lumpur are ignorant of the scheme and their role in it.

Bukit Bandaraya Residents Association president Datuk M. Ali said there had been little to no information to aid awareness from the authorities.

“Residents are left in the dark. Those who do know about the waste separation scheme don’t know where to start and others just do not know that it is now mandatory,” he said.

Ali said the authorities had done a poor job of properly raising awareness and had only a few days ago delivered brochures about the waste separation scheme.

“It was only on August 27 that Alam Flora contacted me to discuss the way forward on reaching the residents to disseminate information.

“It's sad that those in charge had sat on it until as late as August 31, instead of reaching out to the rakyat well in advance to explain the format and procedure.

“I have always been pushing for the government agencies and service providers to stop merely ‘sloganeering’ but to ensure actual delivery,” he said.

Ali said while he empathised with Alam Flora’s need for the residents to cooperate in the scheme, the information flyers were  only distributed a few ago before September 1.

A meeting between Alam Flora and Bukit Bandar Raya residents has been tentatively scheduled for September 13, he said.

Kepong Community Centre head Yee Poh Ping said while the waste separation initiative was a positive move, only time would tell if the people would take to it.

“Enforcement through fines will only start next year so maybe it is expected that it will take a few months for the people to adapt,” he said.

However, Yee said, the people of Kepong had long been separating their recyclable waste.

“The people are used to keeping their old newspapers or plastics for the men who come around in their lorries,” he said.

Bandar Baru Residents’ Association secretary Prem Kumar Nair said it would take time for the people to adopt the new practice.

“Right now, many are still uncertain about what they need to do. It’s new so it’s understandable that it will take time to work,” he said.

Prem said Alam Flora would also be meeting with Bandar Baru residents on September 13 to discuss on the scheme.

“It is a good initiative and we will see how it goes at the meeting. If 100 residents show up, the meeting would be a success,” he said.

Meanwhile, those living in highrises are unsure how they are affected by the waste separation scheme.

“I have heard about it (waste separation), but we have not been informed by the management. They should be the ones coordinating this,” said Brendan Wong, who lives in a condominium in Desa Petaling.

Joshua Bryan, who lives in a condominium in Jalan Klang Lama, also said he had not been informed about the mandatory waste separation.

“I have not been told anything about this. There were no notices displayed,” he said.

The Malaysian Insider reported that SW Corp had been tasked to work with residents’ associations, Rukun Tetangga and Joint Management Bodies (JMBs) towards successful implementation of the scheme.

“The main thing that the public has to remember is that it is a 2+1 system, meaning two collection days for residual waste and one day for recyclable, garden and bulk wastes,” said National Solid Waste Management Department director-general Mohd Rosli Abdullah.

Rosli had conceded that implementing the scheme was “a bit of a challenge” in non-landed and high-rise buildings.

“We do provide three types of bins for those who live in highrise buildings and it is the responsibility of the JMB to ensure that the residents separate their waste accordingly.

“Once we start to issue compounds, the JMB will be penalised if the waste is not separated.” he had said.

Under the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007, households in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Pahang, Johor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Perlis and Kedah are required to separate their waste.

Beginning June 1 next year, households that do not separate their waste will be compounded RM50 for the first offence, and RM100 and RM500 for subsequent offences.

If the compounds are not paid, the offender can be taken to court to face a maximum fine of RM1,000. – September 1, 2015.