Lo Khere Chiang
As of yesterday, MPP collected about RM7 million, hitting 70 per cent of the target, said a spokesperson for MPP when contacted by The Borneo Post here yesterday.
The deadline for settling assessment rates for the first half of the year is tomorrow, after which, the spokesperson said, one per cent surcharge would be imposed per month.
“Those who do not pay before or on May 31 will be fined one per cent per month. If they delay two months, it will be two per cent. It is hard to say whether the remaining 30 per cent will settle their assessment rates in the next two days because some people prefer to pay together with the second half.”
The spokesperson said MPP would start issuing reminders to property owners who still had not settled their assessment rates by July.
“Usually by end of the year, we collect about 85 per cent of the total assessment rates,” added the spokesperson.
MPP chairman Lo Khere Chiang, when contacted, said the council had done its part in educating the local community to settle assessment rates before the deadline.
“They (property owners) always receive the bill and can pay any time before the deadline. We have done a lot of publicity to encourage them to pay.”
Lo, who is also Batu Kitang assemblyman, opined that “it’s human nature” for some assessment rate payers to procrastinate.
“Many times it’s a habit, just like some people do not have the habit of picking up rubbish when they see one, a good habit which has been practised among folks in Japan and South Korea.
“We have to continue educating our people and not just the adults but must start from our children. We need to inculcate the right value into our young children,” he said.
To a question, he said MPP had been able to collect more than 80 per cent of its assessment rates in the last couple of years.
On whether he was satisfied with the performance so far, Lo said the council would carry on encouraging property owners to settle their assessment rates before end of the year.
On Sunday, Assistant Local Government Minister Datu Dr Penguang Manggil called upon property owners to settle assessment rates for the first half of the year to avoid the late settlement surcharge.
He added that some councils might be able to collect up to 90 per cent of their total assessment rates while other councils could get as low as 50 per cent.
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