Not enough with Subang Jaya, Sepang Municipal Council is also involved in the same scandal. Same as what happened in Subang Jaya, owners of the commercial outlets under the jurisdiction of Sepang Municipal Council are all required to sign a contract with four designated companies to carry out pest-control exercises.
I have a copy of the leaflet with me and I had confirmed this with the council’s president office and the four designated companies. These companies are Salak Pest Control Sdn. Bhd., Wismanis Sdn. Bhd., Lembah Dahlia Sdn. Bhd. and Koswasta Asia Sdn. Bhd.
From our detailed scrutiny, we discover that:
1. The content of the two leaflets (MPSJ and MPSepang) are literally the same. The differences are only on the name of the councils and the name of the companies.
2. The contract are also run based on consortium in which all the four companies are given the concessionaire to run pest-control exercise. While Koswasta Asia is also involved in the MPSJ’s concessionaire and is thus confirmed to be a pest-control company not recognized by the Pest Control Association of Malaysia, we are still in the midst of investigating the backgrounds of the other three companies.
In lieu of all these happenings, DAP Selangor would like MPSepang to come clear to all our questions here:
1. What are the jurisdictions for MPSepang to require non-eatery commercial outlets to conduct pest-control exercise? It is of course reasonable for MPSepang to come out with the ruling to eateries and restaurants as well as food-processing factories but MPSepang is certainly lacking transparency in it’s policy making when requiring owners of non-eatery commercial outlets to do the same.
2. Even though if pest control exercise is compulsory for all commercial outlets, why do MPSepang only designate one consortium to conduct the exercise for more than 10,000 commercial outlets under MPSepang’s jurisdiction? Is this consortium more experienced than other companies in the market, or it’s charges are more economical than the rest? Is the awarding of the concessionaire conducted based on open-tender system?
3. One of the companies, Koswasta Asia is said not a member of the Pest Control Association of Malaysia (PCAM). If that’s the case, why MPSepang does not select a company registered, recognized and accredited by the association? Are the services provided by this consortium guaranteed and accredited by the association? Will it be held liable legally for any losses or accidents by its personnel when conducting pest-control exercises, especially when pest control personnel must be well-trained to handle insecticides and poisonous materials which could also be carcinogenic?
Besides, we are very much concerned of whether there could be some ‘big guys’ behind the scene trying to strike a deal with all 13 local councils in Selangor to monopolise pest-control business in Selangor. As for this stage, we hope that based on the principles of good-governance, transparency and accountability, the presidents of MPSepang and its councilors should be held liable and answerable to the taxpayers. We therefore urge the following:
1. MPSepang to immediately suspend the implementation of this ruling until there is a clear and acceptable explanations from the council on this matter. The council should also explain when it enters into an agreement with a private consortium without consulting the taxpayers.
2. MPSepang to immediately reveal the contents of the contracts in order to avoid MPSepang from entering any unjust contract with any private entity which will cause damage to the council and the taxpayers.
3. MPSepang to immediately arrange for a three-party negotiation between the owners (the taxpayers), the consortium and the council to reach for a solution, so as to avoid innocent owners to sign any contract with the consortium without adequate consultations on what have happened behind.
Billboard scandal – who demolished the billboard we complained?
On Tuesday (1st August), I as my capacity as DAP PJ Action Team Chairman held a press conference in Jalan Universiti Petaling Jaya to highlight a huge billboard constructed by Spectrum Marketing Sdn. Bhd. nearby the junction of Jalan Universiti and Jalan 17/41 which is not only unsafe, but also not in accordance with the concept of a ‘safe city’ and ‘pedestrian first’ when the billboard was too close to the road and it occupied the pedestrian walkway.
To my surprise, I discovered yesterday evening that the bill board was taken down by somebody. Although this is a delighting news, but we do not know who are the authority who took down the billboard (Please refer to the two photographs that I took yesterday night).
It is believed that it was the work of the council, but I had lodged a police report at 7pm yesterday night to seek police’s investigation on the matter.
Actually, if the mayor can be transparent and accountable in his work, he can announce weekly on the numbers, sizes, identities of the owners and the locations of illegal billboard demolished.
This is indeed one of the three demands that I put forward to him. The other two demands are:
1. To demand the Mayor to come out with an order to stop constructions of any new billboard in PJ until there is an accountable, satisfactory and acceptable official explanation given by the council in order to prevent irresponsible outdoor advertising companies from constructing billboards that endanger public safety.
2. To demand the Mayor to draw up a policy for a dialogue must be conducted with the residents before any billboards are constructed in any area.
We do not need to beat around the bushes, if the Mayor can work transparently and accountably.
I have a copy of the leaflet with me and I had confirmed this with the council’s president office and the four designated companies. These companies are Salak Pest Control Sdn. Bhd., Wismanis Sdn. Bhd., Lembah Dahlia Sdn. Bhd. and Koswasta Asia Sdn. Bhd.
From our detailed scrutiny, we discover that:
1. The content of the two leaflets (MPSJ and MPSepang) are literally the same. The differences are only on the name of the councils and the name of the companies.
2. The contract are also run based on consortium in which all the four companies are given the concessionaire to run pest-control exercise. While Koswasta Asia is also involved in the MPSJ’s concessionaire and is thus confirmed to be a pest-control company not recognized by the Pest Control Association of Malaysia, we are still in the midst of investigating the backgrounds of the other three companies.
In lieu of all these happenings, DAP Selangor would like MPSepang to come clear to all our questions here:
1. What are the jurisdictions for MPSepang to require non-eatery commercial outlets to conduct pest-control exercise? It is of course reasonable for MPSepang to come out with the ruling to eateries and restaurants as well as food-processing factories but MPSepang is certainly lacking transparency in it’s policy making when requiring owners of non-eatery commercial outlets to do the same.
2. Even though if pest control exercise is compulsory for all commercial outlets, why do MPSepang only designate one consortium to conduct the exercise for more than 10,000 commercial outlets under MPSepang’s jurisdiction? Is this consortium more experienced than other companies in the market, or it’s charges are more economical than the rest? Is the awarding of the concessionaire conducted based on open-tender system?
3. One of the companies, Koswasta Asia is said not a member of the Pest Control Association of Malaysia (PCAM). If that’s the case, why MPSepang does not select a company registered, recognized and accredited by the association? Are the services provided by this consortium guaranteed and accredited by the association? Will it be held liable legally for any losses or accidents by its personnel when conducting pest-control exercises, especially when pest control personnel must be well-trained to handle insecticides and poisonous materials which could also be carcinogenic?
Besides, we are very much concerned of whether there could be some ‘big guys’ behind the scene trying to strike a deal with all 13 local councils in Selangor to monopolise pest-control business in Selangor. As for this stage, we hope that based on the principles of good-governance, transparency and accountability, the presidents of MPSepang and its councilors should be held liable and answerable to the taxpayers. We therefore urge the following:
1. MPSepang to immediately suspend the implementation of this ruling until there is a clear and acceptable explanations from the council on this matter. The council should also explain when it enters into an agreement with a private consortium without consulting the taxpayers.
2. MPSepang to immediately reveal the contents of the contracts in order to avoid MPSepang from entering any unjust contract with any private entity which will cause damage to the council and the taxpayers.
3. MPSepang to immediately arrange for a three-party negotiation between the owners (the taxpayers), the consortium and the council to reach for a solution, so as to avoid innocent owners to sign any contract with the consortium without adequate consultations on what have happened behind.
Billboard scandal – who demolished the billboard we complained?
On Tuesday (1st August), I as my capacity as DAP PJ Action Team Chairman held a press conference in Jalan Universiti Petaling Jaya to highlight a huge billboard constructed by Spectrum Marketing Sdn. Bhd. nearby the junction of Jalan Universiti and Jalan 17/41 which is not only unsafe, but also not in accordance with the concept of a ‘safe city’ and ‘pedestrian first’ when the billboard was too close to the road and it occupied the pedestrian walkway.To my surprise, I discovered yesterday evening that the bill board was taken down by somebody. Although this is a delighting news, but we do not know who are the authority who took down the billboard (Please refer to the two photographs that I took yesterday night).
It is believed that it was the work of the council, but I had lodged a police report at 7pm yesterday night to seek police’s investigation on the matter.
Actually, if the mayor can be transparent and accountable in his work, he can announce weekly on the numbers, sizes, identities of the owners and the locations of illegal billboard demolished.
This is indeed one of the three demands that I put forward to him. The other two demands are:
1. To demand the Mayor to come out with an order to stop constructions of any new billboard in PJ until there is an accountable, satisfactory and acceptable official explanation given by the council in order to prevent irresponsible outdoor advertising companies from constructing billboards that endanger public safety.
2. To demand the Mayor to draw up a policy for a dialogue must be conducted with the residents before any billboards are constructed in any area.
We do not need to beat around the bushes, if the Mayor can work transparently and accountably.
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