Produce less rubbish, pay less assessment rates

GEORGE TOWN, Fri: 

Produce less rubbish if you want to pay lower assessment rates. That was the advice given by state local government committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow to the people in Penang.

He said it would be possible for the two local councils in Penang to lower assessment rates if the amount of rubbish in the state was reduced.

Chow said the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) and Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) now had to fork out RM4.74 million per month to pay its contractors. A total of 1,800 tonne of rubbish is collected daily in the whole of Penang.

"If we can reduce the amount of rubbish, we will not have to pay the contractors so much. This will reduce our expenditure and we can then channel the money back to the people by lowering their assessment rates. Recycling household waste is an effective way to reduce the amount of rubbish produced,” he said.

Chow said recycling could help reduce the volume of rubbish in the state by about 30 per cent or 540 tonne per day.
The average cost of disposal of 1,000 tonnes of rubbish per day in Seberang Prai, inclusive of collection, transport and transfer of rubbish from Ampang Jajar to the Pulau Burung landfill was RM70,000, he said.

Speaking after being briefed on the Golden Sands Resort's recycling initiative yesterday, he said the recycling rate on the island was 15 per cent and 18 per cent on the mainland, compared to the national average of 4.5 per cent.

"We need to increase this rate to 30 per cent to effect greater savings in our waste management costs," he added.

--NST