MIRI: Miri City Council (MCC) expressed its disappointment with political quarters that have a tendency to challenge the council’s intelligence and integrity without checking first.
Its mayor Lawrence Lai said such tunnel vision had tarnished the council’s good image.
“Political parties should not use the council as a punching bag. We know the election is coming but please do not politicise the council’s delivery service,” he told the media in a press conference at his office yesterday.
Lai was commenting on the poor door-to-door garbage collection at Tudan area which was highlighted in a local Chinese daily here.
He said the council was aware of the issue and making effort to rectify the problem faced in Tudan and other areas.
He recalled that the issue occurred after the contractors gave up collecting garbage last September as they could not afford the high operation cost due to the increasing price of fuel.
“Unlike grass cutting, the council cannot simply award garbage collection tender which follows certain procedure,” Lai said.
The council decided to call for an interim service as a temporary solution to cover the transition period until the Housing and Local Government Ministry approve the new contract applied for, which will last for a minimum of five years.
Until today, the council has not replied to the new contract applied for by the ministry.
“We want to make it clear that the council is transparent when it comes to services as we subscribe to collective decision.
“Do not insult the intelligence and integrity of the council. If we are not calling for emergency tender, then who is going to collect from the 52,000 garbage collection points in the city,” Lai said. It is not easy to get the tender as the council is strict on this matter. It will only give the tender to genuine contractors and a certain timeframe would be given for them to purchase the machinery needed such as tractors and compressors, as well as to employ workers.
“We know our responsibility and regret any poor service. We pledge our commitment to improve our services such as opening up more zones and getting more contractors.”