Ipoh, The Cleanest City? - Ipoh Echo

1 Sept 2017

By Mei Kuan, Ili Aqilah and Khaleeja Suhaimi

Ipoh was recently named Malaysia’s cleanest city in 2016 ahead of Penang and 2015’s cleanest city, Johor Bharu. Based on the ministerial rating system, Ipoh scored 97.45. This was announced by the Urban Well-Being, Housing and Local Government Minister on August 14.

“When the rating system was first introduced in 2008, Ipoh scored only 3 stars, a decade later, 5 stars and was ranked first in the country. Ipoh is definitely the model to emulate when it comes to handling waste management,” said Tan Sri Noh Omar, Minister of Urban Well Being, Housing and Local Government during a ceremony held at Ipoh Convention Centre (ICC) recently. The other town in Perak that made it to the top ten is Manjung with 94.75 points.

Ipoh Echo sent its team to get feedback from Ipoh City Council, NGOs and members of the public regarding the award and determine whether Ipoh is indeed the cleanest city in Malaysia.

The Role of Ipoh City Council

Mayor Dato’ Zamri Man is a man with a mission. He is determined to keep Ipoh clean. He does so by organising activities such as gotong royong, cleaning drains, clearing illegal dumps and encouraging Ipohites to recycle trash.

His other efforts include erecting lamp posts along Kinta River, lighting up trees along the streets and planting new trees within city limits.

“In order to maintain cleanliness, the public must work together with us. What’s the point of getting five stars if we don’t play a part in achieving a sustainable environment?” said Zamri.

In conjunction with the Perak Yang Bersih (Clean Perak) campaign launched by Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri DiRaja Dr Zambry Abd. Kadir on March 31, the council has organised a dedicated cleaning campaign every third Friday of the month.

The campaign will be conducted throughout the year with different themes every month. The theme for August was Smart Partnership, September is on Green Run, October pertains to Car Free Day, November will be about clean rivers and landscaping while December is on recycled items.

A total of 74 gotong royong were held from the beginning of the year till August 12. A total of 10,876 illegal dumps were cleared.

Vandalism is a recurring problem in Ipoh. Those caught can be jailed for six months or fined RM1000.

In order to maintain the cleanliness, Ipohites should play their part. They should start by picking up rubbish they see on the ground. Most of us are of the impression that such simple acts amount to nothing.

We should start recycling instead of throwing away papers, plastics and aluminium. We do not realise how recycling can impact our lives.

The mayor has stressed a lot on going green and planting trees, in and around the city. In fact, every household is encouraged to have plants in their compound to increase the oxygen level in Ipoh.

Last year, Ipoh City Council in collaboration with Maybank planted 500 plants from Gunung Cheroh right to People’s Park.

“My gratitude and congratulations to Ipoh City Council for attaining this award. We’re very happy to achieve this and we hope to attain it every other year,” said Zamri at the August full-board meeting.

In order to maintain the 5-star status, Ipohites need to work hand-in-hand with the council. Upgrading the Kinta Riverwalk is imperative.

“We’ll improve the lighting and make things more conducive for tourists. The whole works will cost around RM4 million. My proposal is still being considered by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture,” Zamri remarked.

Role of Ipoh City Watch

Associate Professor Dr Richard Ng, President of Ipoh City Watch (ICW) cum Chairman of KOHIJAU shared his thoughts with Ipoh Echo on the matter, “The announcement caught Ipohites by surprise. Many accepted it with mixed feelings because there’s still a lot of illegal dumpsites in the city.”

“It’s not a surprise to me for many reasons. Firstly, Perak was declared the second cleanest state in Malaysia in 2016 by the Malaysian Tourism Board after Terengganu, based on certain criteria. Ipoh was also accredited by Lonely Planet as one the top 10 recommended destinations in Asia,” he added.

Among the criteria used include having strategic action plans, commitment to quality operations, innovations and creativity, use of ICT, integrity, good record keeping, handling of customers’ complaints and feedback, and media reports on activities of the council.  

Compared to the other local councils, Ipoh City Council has scored the highest points based on cleanliness. This includes environment-control activities with a maximum score of 3.25 points, solid waste management and disposal, and cleanliness of public places such as People’s Park and toilets which score 1.75 points, handling customers’ feedback and complaints with a score of 5.00 points, and community involvement, which include conduct of LA21 activities for a sustainable environment which score 10.00 points.

Thus criteria for cleanliness have a total score of 20.00/100.00 or 20% of the Local Government Star Rating system. Out of these 20 points, Ipoh City Council scored the highest among all the local councils making Ipoh the cleanest city in Malaysia.

“Credit goes to the mayor, Dato’ Zamri Man whose leadership got things moving to achieve the various key performance indicators set. Nevertheless, our Menteri Besar Dr Zambry Abd Kadir should also be thanked for this success. He was the man responsible for making Perak and Ipoh what they are today. Perak will soon be the cleanest state in Malaysia.”

According to Richard, many critics have tried to belittle our MB labelling him the garbage man not knowing that by going down with the mayor and the workers, he was setting an example to all local council staff to take cleanliness seriously. Zambry also launched the Clean Perak campaign on March 31 setting the stage for Perakeans to follow.

Ipoh Car Free Day, launched two years ago by the council, tree-planting campaign and tree tagging have also contributed towards making Ipoh the cleanest city.

“However, much still needs to be done by the council and the state government if we want to retain the cleanest city status. These include effective enforcement to ensure that perpetrators of illegal dumping are caught and prosecuted. The current fine of RM500 does not deter these litterbugs,” Richard pointed out.

“All business outlets must have a rubbish bin each before their business licenses are renewed. Cleaning must also be done twice daily by council workers, as practised in China and Japan. The workers must also be monitored and given key performance indicators as a form of motivation,” he added.

“The council must ensure its complaint and feedback system is people-friendly and can be assessed in different ways convenient for the people. The complaint system must be managed by staff who are people-friendly. They should receive complaints and channel them to the respective departments to handle within a certain timeframe. Those who complain and provide feedback regularly should be rewarded,” he said.

Last September, Ipoh was declared the 5th Social Business City in the world by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus during the Pangkor International Dialogue. The status requires Ipoh to practise the 17 sustainable development goals set by United Nations, one of which is related to sustainable environment. 

KOHIJAU-ICYCLE, for instance, has been playing a significant role in helping the government by educating the public through a reward-point-recycling system using the social business concept which enable participating NGOs, residence associations and schools and their members to keep 60% of the revenue earned from the sales of recyclables to assist in their activities.

To date, 18 of the 52 KOHIJAU-ICYCLE recycling bins, costing RM36,000, have been placed in various parts of Ipoh for the convenience of the public to recycle. This will help reduce at least 30% of the garbage from going to landfills and can help reduce illegal dumping. It too helps the local council to save cost on waste disposal.

“Since our launch in September last year, we’ve successfully signed up over 3000 recycling members contributing more than 30,000kg of recyclables. By end of 2017, we aim to instal about 100 bins and recruit a total of 10,000 members. Ipoh City Watch and KOHIJAU will collaborate with other NGOs as well as Rukun Tetangga to help Perak become the cleanest state in Malaysia,” Richard concluded.

Comments by Public

With a job that requires her to travel, Lim Bay Gie, 28, an Ipohite who is currently staying in Kuala Lumpur has mixed feelings when the news broke,

“Ipoh is definitely a clean city but certainly not the cleanest. There are certain areas in Ipoh with less waste but look at our public toilets, they’re still disgusting,” exclaimed Lim. Without the smelly toilets, Ipoh could be the cleanest, she reasoned.

We met poet Wani Ardy, 32, from Shah Alam who stays in Ipoh. He runs a bed and breakfast outlet named Rumah Ipoh.

“Ipoh is fairly clean but the cleanest in Malaysia? This means Malaysia isn’t clean. Take a look at Old Town. The streets are pretty narrow and narrow streets get dirty fairly easily. And what’s troubling is they’re not accessible by garbage trucks,” said Wani.

“People do recycle but most of them do it individually. We need to see more recycling bins at public places. The good thing about Ipoh is that the people are very careful with their money that’s why second-hand goods are in demand here. It’s great for sustainability as wastage is minimised,” added Wani.

For Goh Poh Ann, 19, a former Ipohite who is currently studying studio art in Pennsylvania was surprised when told.

“Although it’s been awhile, Ipoh seems to look cleaner than before. Perhaps the growing number tourists who visit the city has prompted the council to work harder to maintain the city’s image,” Goh reasoned.

https://www.ipohecho.com.my/v4/article/2017/09/01/ipoh-the-cleanest-city

Hello, is anybody there? - Star Metro Perak

2 September 2017

RATEPAYERS are taking the Ipoh City Council to task over the ineffectiveness of its e-Aduan and complaints hotline on WhatsApp, saying that there is no point in creating such channels of communication if the council does not look into the complaints.

Lecturer Mark Chow said he and his wife have over the past six months lodged three complaints via e-Aduan about two stray dogs, which the say are posing a danger to those living along Lapangan Kinara 3 in Panorama Lapangan Kinara.

The answers or updates given by the council, Chow revealed, were not only copied and pasted but were also misleading.

“First they answered that they had forwarded our complaints to the Veterinary Services Department as the council is apparently no longer allowed to tranquillise stray dogs. A check with the department showed that the council had not forwarded any of our complaints to them.

“Then in a later update, the council claimed that two dogs had been captured. As far as I can see, the two strays, which have been terrorising my children and visitors, are still outside my house,” he said.

According to Chow, another complaint that he lodged via the council’s e-Aduan system on its website regarding the indiscriminate dumping of construction waste behind his house on July 7 and subsequently on Aug 18 has not been resolved to this day.

“The e-Aduan feature on the council’s portal is clearly for show only,” he added.

A businessman, who only wanted to be known as Puru, concurred that it takes forever for the council to look into complaints lodged by ratepayers via e-Aduan.

“They’re very slow to take action. You need to follow up personally with the relevant departments within the council after lodging a complaint but more often than not, you’ll be given the run around.

“First of, the telephone operator is unsure what comes under which department.

“When you finally reach the right department, you’ll be told to leave a message or to call back because the officers are not at their desks.

“Even if you manage to get them, all they do is promise they will go to check the issue, which of course does not happen, although there are one or two good ones,” he said, adding that as civil servants, the officers should give out their phone numbers to ratepayers for ease of communication.

In a similar vein, he said officers who work on the ground should be provided with official contact numbers.

Puru also suggested that council officers call complainants for verification and further details about their grouses.

“They should be calling us instead of us calling them.

“Worst of all, I’ve been scolded by one of their staff via messaging for always complaining. The person’s excuse for not responding is that there are a lot of complaints but not enough manpower.

“Well, that’s in internal issue and has nothing to do with the public. Ratepayers pay the council to get the job done.

“They complain not for fun, but because the job is not done,” he said.

Puru said ratepayers would be better off if they voiced their grievances at the complaints counter at the council building itself, adding that the personnel stationed there are courteous and helpful.

“I’m sure the mayor and council will say in their own defence that they are receiving fewer complaints now compared to with the past.

“The truth is, people have given up on complaining. It’s not because there are less complaints.

“They’re fed up and don’t see a point in doing so anymore because nothing gets done,” he claimed.

Puru went on to suggest that the council privatise the functions of some of its departments.

“Those dealing with drainage and roadworks clearly have no idea what they are doing. Thousands, even millions of ringgit are being spent on drains that don’t flow and our roads are terrible.

“The Health Department is also not doing its job with so many dirty and unhygienic food stalls still operating without action being taken against them,” he added.

Ipoh City Watch President Dr Richard Ng also has his share of bad experiences with the council’s WhatsApp hotline.

“I was made aware it is the council’s Information Technology Department that manages the hotline as well as the e-Aduan service, which should not be the case.

“All complaints, whether through email, mobile phone or WhatsApp, should be handled by the complaints counter and not IT people. They need to centralise all feedback to the front desk,” said Ng, who sang praises of the staff at the front counter.

Noting that only courteous staff should be placed in charge of handling complaints and feedback, Ng said the council’s IT staff, whom he had come across, were most unfriendly.

“Today, I received a standard reply to a complaint I lodged via the hotline. Again, it was a standard reply asking for full address and complete details of my complaint. Eventually, I was redirected to another phone line.

“So, what’s the point of having a hotline then?

“The person I encountered was downright curt and appeared to have not bothered to even read my messages.

“I’ve already provided photographs and the location of my complaint, which I feel is sufficient information for the council to act upon. They can’t possibly expect me to give them a full address,” he said.

Ng added that it was time that the mayor and the council’s top management were made aware of the problem.

“The mayor and the council must take corrective measures and improve if they want to keep the Ipoh City Council’s position as best local council in the country.

“A key performance index, in terms of number of complaints received, number of cases where action has been taken, and number of unresolved cases, has to be set for staff handling complaints.

“There should also be more options for the public to channel their complaints and feedback. Right now, ratepayers are not allowed to lodge complaints through email.

“In fact, the council should reward those providing feedback, especially non-governmental organisations and concerned members of the public,” Ng suggested.

When interviewed at a press conference on Aug 25, Ipoh Datuk Bandar Datuk Zamri Man said there were some “technical issues” with its online and hotline system.

“We are aware of the complaints from the public about the systems. We are in the midst of resolving them,” he said.

“We will also ensure that all the complaints made through our systems will be looked into and acted on,” he added.

Zamri said the city council received an average of between 1,000 and 1,300 complaints per month.

“And as of August, we have now received about 13,000 complaints through our online and hotline systems.

“We have also resolved about 85% of the complaints,” he said, adding that among the complaints included issues pertaining to illegal dumpsites, clogged drains and stray dogs.

“Issues that we can resolve immediately have been attended to. There are still some issues that require more time,” he added.

http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2017/09/02/hello-is-anybody-there-complaints-about-complaints-hotline-and-online-system-emerge/

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus meets Practitioners of Social Business at Yunus Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh

28 July 2017 - Dhaka, Bangladesh

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Richard Ng with Nobel Peace Prize Laureatte, Prof. Muhammad Yunus 

Over 2,000 people from 40 countries converged in Dhaka for the 7^th Annual Social Business Day held from 29 to 30 July in Dhaka hosted by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. Social Business Day is an annual conference organized by the Yunus Centre to celebrate the groundbreaking idea of social business and to highlight new developments.

Social Business Day showcases the concept of social business with leading experts in the field. The annual event attracts the participation of international and local actors, corporate and social leaders, NGOs, students, and innovators, and connects them with the social business network. It also creates an opportunity for participants to engage in different interactive plenary sessions and workshops to broaden their understanding in specific areas of interest.

Coined by Muhammad, founder of Grameen Bank, a social business only repays investors their original investment, and reinvests 100% of its profits back into the business to solve social problems.

 
The focus this was on why and how wealth concentration is a threat, and what should be the strategies to tackle this issue at regional, national and global levels. In addition, the event hosted several exciting plenary and interactive breakout sessions. One of the sessions followed up on 2015’s vision of ‘Three Zeros- Zero poverty, Zero unemployment and Zero net carbon emission’ presented by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Malaysia was represented by 20 participants from MyHarapan, IDR, KOHIJAU, UUM, UTP, UKM, USM, and DHL.

Last September, Professor Yunus was in Ipoh during the Pangkor International Dialogue where he declared Ipoh as the 5^th Social Business City (SBC) in the world and 2^nd in Asia after Fukuoka, Japan.

When I was introduced to this event by IDR, I immediately agreed to participate as it will provide me an opportunity to meet up with other social business practitioners. I was inspired by what Prof. Yunus has done to help the poor solve the many unemployment problems by creating entrepreneurs.

Koperasi Alam Hijau Perak Berhad (KOHIJAU) was set up by members of Ipoh City Watch on 1^st of April 2016, 5 months before Ipoh was declares a Social Business City. Our aim was to make Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia. At that time I have no idea about Social Business. However, KOHIJAU has been taking initiatives to help keep the city clean through the KOHIJAU-ICYCLE Recycling Reward Point System through collaboration with the neighbourhood watch Rukun Tetangga Jelapang and Residents Associations as well as other NGOs.

According to Prof Yunus, a social business must fulfil 7 principles;

• Business objective will be to overcome poverty, or one or more problems (such as education, health, technology access, and environment) which threaten people and society; not profit maximization.
• Financial and economic sustainability
• Investors get back their investment amount only. No dividend is given beyond investment money
• When investment amount is paid back, company profit stays with the company for expansion and improvement
• Gender sensitive and environmentally conscious
• Workforce gets market wage with better working conditions
• ... do it with joy

I am sure KOHIJAU has fulfilled most if not all the principles of a social business. KOHIJAU collaborates with other NGOs in educating the public about recycling and reduction of garbage from going to the landfill through the KOHIJAU-ICYCLE system. 60 percent of the income generated from the sales of recyclables collected through this system will be channelled back to these NGOs to fund their activities in helping to solve other social problems.

During the 3-day Social Business Day in Dhaka, I was honoured to meet Prof. Yunus on stage to present our KOHIJAU-ICYCLE recycling system. He was impressed and happy to note what we did. He also agreed to sign on our banner to show his support in promoting a recycling culture for a sustainable environment.

Several Bangladeshi participants from the local universities showed their keen interest in learning from us. They have invited me to come and present it at their universities. It was a great honour for us. I believe the system can help change the mindset of the people as illegal garbage dumping is a huge problem in Bangladesh.

My presentation also caught the attention of an NGO from USA, the Winner’s Circle. The team were there to do video recording of good social business programme. They were impressed with our recycling system as well as our plastic bags which is made of sugar cane waste, which can decompose in 80 days. I was honoured by their gesture of sticking the “Who I am makes the difference” sticker on my shirt to show support for being passionate about my project.

In Perak, KOHIJAU has launched or in the process of launching 52 recycling bins throughout Perak with 18 of them located within Ipoh since September 2016. To date, 3,000 people have signed up as recycling members and contributed closed to 30,000 kg of recyclables paying out almost RM3,000.

Our bins are mostly sponsored by the government and private companies to enable the people to drop their recyclables at a convenient location. We welcome corporate companies to assist by sponsoring and participating in the recycling programme as part of their CSR activities. Each bin costs RM2,000. Sponsoring companies will have the company’s logo displayed on the recycling bin. They will also get the report on the amount of recyclables dropped at the bin.

16 SBC units have been created involving NGOs, schools, cooperative societies, and Rukun Tetangga. More SBC units are expected to be created to ensure every district in Perak is represented. KOHIJAU-ICYCLE will also set up units in other parts of Malaysia. It will be a source of additional income for NGOs and their members to fund their social activities while ensuring a clean and sustainable environment.

KOHIJAU has to date signed MOU with NGOs from Guangzhou (China), Plan@Earth in Cochin (Kerala) and recently with EBM Global Recycling inTay Tay, Manila (Philippines). Hopefully, another MOU with the Grameen Group and SouthEast University in Dhaka will be signed as our next partner in Bangladesh. The MOU will enable our partner to use the KOHIJAU-ICYCLE system to reward recycling points for contributors.

Members who contributed their recyclables will be rewarded with recycling points. They can check their recycling points www.icycle-global.com and redeem their points with cash, coupons or donate to charity of their choice.

Enforcement officers check businesses in Ipoh Garden for cleanliness - The Star Metro Perak

28 July 2017

An Ipoh City Council enforcement officer showing a summons that was issued to a shopowner in Ipoh Garden. Photos: RONNIE CHIN/The Star

SOME 11 shops in Ipoh Garden were issued with compounds as the Ipoh City Council continues with its enforcement efforts to curb illegal dumping of garbage.

During a three-hour operation earlier this week, enforcement officers wasted no time, going from shop to shop in the commercial area to check if businesses had proper rubbish bins.

During the operation on Wednesday, City Council enforcement officers were heard arguing with a restaurant owner about a pile of garbage bags that was found behind his shop.

“What can I do if other people are throwing their waste at the back of my shop?” the owner was heard saying, adding that he had already urged shopowners not to do so, although the issue still continued to persist.

Wooley Food City owner KS Ling showing the cabinet he constructed behind the premises to house a large rubbish bin.

The owner escaped being slapped with a compound as enforcement officers gave him a chance to take action on the issue.

Another eatery was, however, not so lucky as several bags of rubbish were found behind the premises, despite the presence of several rubbish bins.

City Council Enforcement Chief Wan Embong Ismail told MetroPerak that they had no choice but to issue compound to the owner.

“The eatery should have gotten a bigger rubbish bin. We conduct checks in the area regularly. We know who is abiding by the law and who isn’t,” he said, adding that the fines totalling RM2,750 were issued during the operation.

He said there were also cases of people throwing their rubbish into bins belonging to other businesses.

An overflowing rubbish bin in Ipoh Garden.

“When the bins are full, rubbish bags are then thrown on the ground next to it.

“We understand such cases do occur and we will give the respective shopowners a chance to do something about it,” he said.

“And of course, there are still some who openly flout the law, trying to blame others when the waste came from their own shop,” he added.

The City Council is now beefing up its fight against litterbugs and illegal dumpsites, taking various measures to ensure the city stays clean.

MetroPerak reported earlier this month that plainclothes enforcement officers were being deployed to catch litterbugs.

Ipoh Mayor Datuk Zamri Man was also quoted as saying that the authorities are mulling a proposal to increase the maximum fine for litterbugs from RM500 to RM1,000.

Enforcement officers checking the back of an eatery in Ipoh Garden where rubbish was being dumped next to the cooking area.

Wan Embong said it is mandatory for all shops to have a rubbish bin.

“The requirement is stated under the Rubbish Disposal, Collection and Waste Disposal By-law (Ipoh City Council) in the Local Government Act.

“Most shopowners are told about the bylaw when they apply for operating licence,” he said.

“I feel some people are just not taking it seriously,” he added.

He said restaurants, eateries and coffeeshops are advised to get bigger bins to accommodate larger volumes of rubbish.

“It all depends how much waste they generate. If the shops don’t need a big bin, they can always just get the normal sized bins, which cost less than RM20,” he said.

Enforcement officers checked on businesses with excessive rubbish bags behind their premises during the operation.

Wan Embong also said that most shopowners have expressed concern about their rubbish bins getting stolen.

“We advise them to keep the bins inside their shops when not in use or when they are closed and only take them out when rubbish collectors do their rounds.

“With regards to bigger bins, we suggest chaining them or building a structure to house them,” he said.

“I’ve seen some bigger eateries taking the initiative to build a structure to house bins in order to prevent theft of the bins,” he added.

During a check at a site regularly used for illegal dumpsite along Lengkok Canning, enforcement officers found several bags of rubbish there yet again.

“Even despite a warning sign being erected, it is disappointing to see people continuing to dump their garbage here. We will check the rubbish bags for clues and evidence to trace the rubbish back to those responsible,” he said.

http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2017/07/28/warning-to-shopowners-enforcement-officers-check-businesses-in-ipoh-garden-for-cleanliness/

Kohijau aims to recruit 10,000 members for recycling programme - The Star Metro Perak

27 July 2017

Ng (right) exchanging documents with EBM Global Recycling of Philippines representative Amy Zamora Milana on the Kohijau iCycle system. Looking on is Rusnah.

KOPERASI Alam Hijau Perak Bhd (Kohijau), a non-governmental recycling organisation, is hoping to recruit 10,000 members by year end for its recycling programme.

Its chairman Associate Prof Dr Richard Ng said some 3,000 members had signed up to participate in the Kohijau-iCycle recycling reward point system.

He said under the system, contributors of recyclables were rewarded with cash or shopping vouchers, and they had a chance to win prizes through lucky draws held on a quarterly basis.

“The total number of recyclables collected until end of June is about 30,000kg, which means each member contributed an average of 10kg of recyclables.

“If we get 10,000 members, on an average, we will be able to collect 100,000 tonnes of recyclables, which would otherwise go to landfills,” he said in his speech before state executive councillor Datuk Rusnah Kassim launched the reward point system at the Loyal Garden Residences.

During the event, Kohijau also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EBM Global Recycling of Philippines to use the reward system at the city of Tay Tay.

The Philippines was the third country after Kerala in India and Guang Zhou in China to sign with Kohijau.

Loyal Garden, which was the first condominium in Perak to embark on such an initiative, aimed for a zero waste community.

Tanjung Malim District Council’s councillor Habibah Yaakob showing the unused banners that she collects to make aprons and grocery bags.

Ng, who was also Ipoh City Watch president, said the management committee of the condominium would get its members and residents to separate their garbage and drop their recyclables at the Kohijau bin sponsored by the developer, Datuk Chan Chee Seng.

He said the management committee would be rewarded with 30% of the sales of the recyclables collected and contributing members would also be given 30%.

“This is part of the social business city concept implemented by Kohijau to help generate additional funds for collaborating organisations, while helping to keep the environment clean,” he added.

Ng said Kohijau had installed 40 bins throughout the state since September last year and another 15 bins would be installed next month and in September.

“We target to have 100 bins installed throughout Perak by the end of the year,” he added.

Rusnah, in her speech, said at one point, Ipoh was listed as the cleanest city in the country and along the way, it was no longer recognised as such.

She said currently, Perak was the second cleanest state, according to a Tourism Malaysia report.

“We want to be the best again and therefore we must do our part, and be responsible enough to ensure we achieve that target.

“In order for us to stay healthy, we must ensure that our surroundings and the environment is clean, and I am confident we can achieve that.

“As the saying goes, cleanliness is next to godliness, therefore recycling and keeping our surroundings clean must be our goal,” she added.

http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2017/07/27/kohijau-aims-to-recruit-10000-members-for-recycling-programme/

Ipoh mulls RM1,000 fine for littering - The Star Metro Perak

24 July 2017

Zamri (in orange shirt) planting a tree with several city councillors at the event.

THE IPOH City Council is now considering imposing a RM1,000 fine on those caught littering.

Ipoh Datuk Bandar Datuk Zamri Man said discussions are now being held to impose the heftier fine as the City Council raises it efforts to solve the litteting and illegal dumping in the city.

“We want to adopt a serious approach when it comes to the cleanliness of the city.

“Depending on the amount of rubbish dumped by the litterbug, we are mulling a maximum fine of RM1,000,” he told reporters after launching the monthly City Council-level “Perak Yang Bersih” gotong-royong at the D. R. Seenivasagam Park on Friday.

“The people have been warned,” he said.

MetroPerak reported that the city council would review its current RM500 maximum compound imposed on litterbugs to curb illegal and indiscriminate dumping.

Zamri said that the RM500 fine was set in the 1980s and it was high time for it to be reviewed.

Volunteers sweeping the ground at the park.

With Perak now ranked the second cleanest state after Terengganu, Zamri said Ipoh wants to be recognised as one of the cleanest city in the country.

“We have held many gotong-royong events and we are glad that more people are now joining in,” he said.

Zamri reminded the people to be positive and to help clean the city.

“We have about 850,000 people in the city. If each helps to pick up rubbsh on the street, our city could be cleaner,” he said.

“We should not be negative and litter, which would cause problems for other people,” he added.

Zamri also said, as of this month, the city council has cleared up some 9,642 illegal dumpsites.

“A total of 2,933 tonnes of was collected.

“We have also issued 2,180 compounds and collected RM442,920 from these,” he said.

About 1,000 people, comprising staff from the City Council, various government departments, non-government organisations, Civic Society Council and Residents’ Representative Committees, were present during the gotong-royong.

Schoolchildren from two schools – SMK Raja Perempuan and SMK Raja Permaisuri Bainun – also joined in the gotong-royong event.

http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2017/07/24/a-serious-look-at-littering-ipoh-city-council-considers-increasing-the-fine-for-littering-to-rm1000/

Survey: E-hailing drivers are making less than before - Malaysiakini

July 6, 2017

A survey has found that 51 percent of e-hailing service drivers are making less than a year before, according to a survey commissioned by DAP.

Forty percent of respondents said they were unsure whether there was a difference while only three percent believed that they were making more this year.

The survey involved 297 respondents who were recruited to fill in the online questionnaire.

DAP researcher Ong Kiang Ming said that the results of the survey showed that driving for Uber and Grab may not be as lucrative as people think.

The most prominent complaint by respondents, said Ong, was the commission rates charged by the two companies.

"Three-quarters of drivers surveyed feel that the 20 to 25 percent commission rates by Grab and Uber are unfair and more than 60 percent of drivers want the government to regulate the amount of commission which the e-hailing companies can charge," he told a press conference today.

Other findings from the survey, in brief, are:

• 40 percent of drivers are full-time;
• 53 percent are driving part-time as a second job;
• 64 percent of drivers have a least a diploma;
• 34 percent of drivers are based outside the Klang Valley; and
• Average monthly wages are approximately RM3,200 (average 2016 income according to Department of Statistic was RM2,463).

Ong and his colleague Liew Chin Tong said that Putrajaya's effort to regulate the e-hailing industry by amending the Land Public Transport Act 2010 and the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987 was a step in the right direction.

However, they urged Putrajaya to ensure that there are discussions with drivers in order to increase their awareness of the legislative amendments.

Efforts must also be made to ensure there will not be a monopoly or oligopoly, while regulating the commission rates companies can charge on drivers.

They also proposed that a tribunal be set up to hear appeals of e-hailing drivers who are subjected to punishment by the companies while ensuring that a level playing field between taxi drivers and e-hailing drivers exists.

"The end goal should be a market whereby taxi drivers as well as e-hailing drivers are properly compensated and the taxi companies and e-hailing companies cannot abuse their oligopolistic or monopolistic positions to mistreat the drivers and give passengers a bad service experience," Ong and Liew said in a statement today.