Saturday, 6 Jan 2018
Lo (in yellow shirt) looks on as contractors sign the integrity pledge and
statutory declaration at MPP’s headquarters. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star OnLine
TWO local
authorities in Kuching are introducing new initiatives to improve their
services in 2018.
Last
week, the Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) announced that contractors appointed
for jobs must sign an integrity pledge and statutory declaration not to
subcontract the work to others, except in the case of certain specialist works
for which they would need to get the council’s approval.
MPP
chairman Lo Khere Chian said this was meant to prevent “Ali Baba” contractors
from participating in council projects and to ensure that the successful
contractors delivered good work.
According
to him, the council had experienced “a lot of subcontracting works” in the
past, when the appointed contractor sublets the works to another person until
the final subcontractor down the line was left with a fraction of the original
contract sum to do the job.
“How can
the final subcontractor deliver a good job or provide good service?
“We don’t
want this type of culture in MPP and this is definitely not what our state
leaders want either,” he said at a pledge signing ceremony for 26 contractors
at MPP’s headquarters.
Lo said
the council “will not hesitate” to terminate contractors who broke the pledge.
They will
also be blacklisted from tendering for MPP projects for the next two years.
Meanwhile,
Kuching North City Hall (DBKU) is conducting a study on the feasibility of
introducing “orange zone” parking with higher rates at heavily-visited areas
like banks and clinics.
Kuching
North mayor Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai said this was to give a fair
chance to the public to park their cars and discourage motorists from leaving
their vehicles all day in busy areas.
“We want
to gazette these areas as orange zones. You can still come and park but you
will have to pay more.
“We don’t
want to charge the same rate of 20 sen for the first half hour like in normal
gazetted parking areas,” he said.
It’s
commendable that both councils are trying something new to enhance their
service delivery.
In MPP’s
case, the contractors who signed the pledge were appointed to carry out drain
clearing, grass-cutting and sweeping services this year.
These
might seem like minor jobs but they matter a great deal to rate-paying
residents who expect clean streets and drains in areas where they live and
work.
There
seems to be a culture of subcontracting among contractors, with some perhaps
having no intention of doing the work themselves when they bid for projects.
Imagine
the consequences when larger projects like infrastructure works are involved.
As Lo
said, it’s the public that ends up shortchanged when jobs are poorly executed
by sub-sub-subcontractors.
He’s
right to say that this isn’t a culture we want. The question now is how to
prevent this from continuing.
MPP is
making a start but it has to do its part to ensure that its contractors do the
jobs as specified. Other councils, departments and ministries as well should
take note and look into introducing and enforcing measures against unregulated
subcontracting.
As for
DBKU’s orange zone proposal, it’s an interesting idea which ought to be
considered in detail so that its eventual implementation will be effective in
addressing parking congestion.
At the
same time, the authorities must consistently enforce the law against illegal
parking.
If we
want to educate motorists to park responsibly in designated spaces, we need to
send a clear message that illegal parking will be penalised.
Otherwise
any new orange zone is likely to end up empty while motorists park illegally
around its perimeter.
Compliance
is necessary if the councils want their initiatives to succeed and to achieve
that, we need proper enforcement.
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