Chow Kon Yeow: 曹观友

Thursday March 27, 2008
No adverse impact on flora on isle
THE proposed water storage tank and retention pond project on Pulau Jerejak will not have an adverse impact on flora and medicinal plants such as tongkat ali, kacip fatimah and aromatic gaharu, state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said.

He said the project did not involve the clearing of forest reserve that boasts such vegetation.

“Only the secondary forest will be cleared to make way for the water storage tank and retention pool to store some 45 million litres of water transferred via pipe from mainland to cater to Bayan Lepas Free Industrial zone, Batu Maung and Pulau Jerejak,” said Chow.

He said based on a report from the state Forestry Department, 295ha of forest reserve would be left untouched.

“The project only involves 3.54ha of the total 362ha of Pulau Jerejak,” he said, allaying nature lovers’ fear the development would destroy the pristine environment.

The project to build the facilities started last December and would be completed within 18 months.

Chow said the Forestry Department hoped the contractor, Premidon Construction, would carry out the work well to minimise erosion risk.

“The contractor has been told to build a silt trap and drainage system to mitigate erosion and control the pollution to the sea.”

He said all the trees cut to develop the project would also be transported back to the mainland for disposal.

“We prohibit burning on the island,” he said.

Adopt a green lung areas
By CHRISTINA CHIN
TO encourage the corporate sector to help beautify Penang, companies will be allowed to advertise their company names in their respective “adopted areas”.

State Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the companies would be allowed to advertise in return for sponsorship and corporate adoption programmes.

“The move has proven to be an effective and efficient way to reduce local councils’ landscaping and beautification cost,” he said.

Chow said it was not feasible to plant flowers that incur huge monthly maintenance cost.

Green haven: Cheap and easy to maintain plants and trees will be planted at spots like Gurney Drive.

“What we need are more trees and plants that are cheaper to plant,” he said in an interview.

When contacted, Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) president S.M. Mohd Idris said the state should rethink the private sponsorship and corporate adoption programmes.

“It does not cost a lot to ‘green up’ Penang. In 1963, I was in the local council and we initiated a tree-planting campaign that was very successful.

“We do not need the private sector because it does not cost much to plant trees. Until today, the trees still stand – look at the Peel Avenue, Jalan Masjid Ne-geri and Macalister Road stretches. The local councils should also consider bougainvillea shrubs and other creepers that are cheap, pretty and easy to maintain,” he said, adding that beautification should be the “people’s project”.

“Get everyone involved. Get students to plant trees outside their school compounds, encou-rage homeowners to plant trees outside their gardens and urge corporations to do the same in their surroundings.

“When it comes to planting trees, everyone should be allowed to do so even if it is on state land. So long as the trees and plants do not obstruct traffic and pose a danger to road users, it should be allowed,” he said.

Idris also warned that allowing the private sector to advertise in return for sponsorship could lead to “ugly, obstructive and distracting advertisements” mushrooming everywhere.

Saturday April 5, 2008
Repair cracks, builder told
By NG SU-ANN
THE Penang Municipal Coun-cil has directed a developer to repair the cracks on some 10 houses in Changkat Bukit Gambir which appeared after it started work on a nearby apartment project last year.

State Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the council would not hesitate to issue a stop work order if the developer did not comply with the requirements.

“The developer should have taken a more pro-active stance to repair the cracks and not wait for the residents to complain to us before doing something about it,” he told newsmen at the Vista Gambir construction site yesterday.

The visit came in the wake of several complaints from the nearby residents concerning the cracks as well as noise and dust pollution caused by the developer’s rock blasting work at the site.

Condo site:A view of Vista Gambier apartment project near Jalan Bukit Gambier.

Chow said the complainants were also concerned that their access road would be used by the apartment’s residents upon the project’s completion.

“They fear this will result in traffic congestion,” he said, adding that there were about 50 houses in the neighbourhood.

Council president Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman said: “If the developer doesn’t repair (the cracks), we will repair them.”

A company spokesman, who only wanted to be known as Cheah, said they would begin repairing the houses as soon as possible.

On the rock blasting, he said it had been completed.

Vista Gambier is a 19-storey condominium block with two wings comprising 144 units.

The project is expected to be completed at the end of next year.

Monday April 7, 2008
Brakes on bus lease scheme
PENANG: Bus operators here have been told to stop leasing their buses to drivers.

State Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said they would face the music if they refused.

He said the lease scheme, which involves drivers paying a certain amount for rental and maintenance, has given the state’s public transportation system a bad image.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Chow said the bus operators should look into substituting the lease system with a salary scheme, which would enable the drivers to follow a proper time and route schedule.

He said that under the lease system, drivers claimed they got better income and did not have to be on the road during off-peak hours.

“The state is against the lease system.”

He alleged that the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB), was well aware of the problem but had failed to act against these operators.

He said the state also would not hesitate to endorse Citizens for Public Transport (Cepat) plans to take legal action against CVLB for allegedly failing to regulate and supervise the bus system in the state.

He said that although the state had not fixed any time frame for the bus operators to do away with the system, it was nevertheless “very, very serious'’ in its caution to the operators.

When contacted, CVLB chairman Datuk Markiman Kobiran asked the state and Cepat to submit a written complaint to the board with details of bus companies that were using the lease system.

“Give me the details. Which bus company is using this system? How many buses? What are the bus numbers? We need all these data before we can act,” he added.

He said that to date, CVLB had yet to receive any official complaint from any party regarding the matter.

“If they submit an official complaint to us complete with details, then we will take the necessary action.

“If we still fail to take action after submission of these complaints, then they can proceed and take legal action against us,'’ he added.

Wednesday April 2, 2008
Penang to appoint independent auditor
By K. KASTURI DEWI

PENANG: An independent auditor will be appointed to look into the financial status of state government agencies and departments, with the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) topping the list.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the decision was made at Wednesday’s state exco meeting.

“We need a reputable accounting firm to handle the auditing of these agencies and departments, including the MPSP which has been running on a deficit budget for years,'’ he said after chairing the state exco meeting.

On Tuesday, State Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow disclosed that the MPSP was down to “its last few millions”, adding that the state government had to find a way to finance the council or it would run into financial difficulties by year-end.

With an accumulated deficit of RM226mil over the last eight years, the MPSP had been scraping the bottom of the barrel to keep operations afloat.

Chow had said the council had a reserve of RM229mil in 2000 but was left with only RM25.6mil at the end of 2007.

Friday April 11, 2008
Shocked over calls for fewer buses
IT was indeed shocking to read in The Star (April calls by Transit Link and KGN-Hin Bus for the state government to reduce the number of Rapid Penang buses plying Penang streets!

Are they not aware that the people of Penang actually want an increase in frequency of buses, which requires more buses to be on the road?

As a bus user myself, I would like to see MORE buses on the road - not fewer. Several routes currently have buses arriving every 45 minutes and even every 90 minutes.

The ‘new kid on the block’ Rapid Penang has won over many loyal customers despite the monopoly the other bus operators have enjo-yed for a long time.

Bus operators thus have to accept that passengers today demand good, clean and fast service.

State Local Goverment, Traffic Management and Environment Committee Chairman Chow Kon Yeow is doing the right thing in giving the bus operators an ultimatum to change their ways and for taking to task CVLB for failing to take action despite so many complaints by the public.

The public’s call to take these operators off the roads have been loud and clear.

Besides, The Star has clearly repor-ted drivers and bosses of these bus operators admitting that the ‘pajak’ system is very much alive in various forms.

JOACHIM F. XAVIER,

Penang.