Seremban to procure electric vehicles to boost green city goals

SEREMBAN: The Seremban City Council (MBS) will procure electric vehicles (EV) and install solar panels at more of its properties in its aspiration to turn the state capital into a smart and low carbon emission city by 2027.

Mayor Datuk Masri Razali said as a start, MBS will acquire four electric scooters this year for enforcement and patrolling.

He said MBS had been working towards achieving these objectives since Seremban obtained city status in 2020.

"We will acquire more electric vehicles next year for our fleet.

"We have also installed solar panels at the MBS building and the main market and are looking for more suitable areas.

"We have also received recognition from the Malaysia Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation for the Low Carbon Cities 2023 challenge and received the Three Diamond Award after we managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 16.9% since 2020," he said at the launch of the smarty city and low carbon emission plan by Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun here on Monday (March 20).

Masri said the council had outlined five main objectives to realise the plan: strengthening its digitisation infrastructure, facilitating mobility, increasing urban resilience, sustainable environment, and community empowerment.

He said some RM8mil had been set aside this year for this, including using more LED streetlights, tree-planting activities, organising green events and upgrading its portal to improve engagement with stakeholders.

"We have also launched a six-month trial project to allow the people to use escooters in Seremban 2," he said, adding that plans are also in the pipeline to set up more EV recharging centres.

He said facilities at the Terminal 1 bus station would also be upgraded for commuter convenience.

"We are not going to allow buses to keep their engines running," he said.

Masri said the smart city plan was to better engage with the community, to make the streets safer, improve traffic flow and reduce the entry of vehicles into the city and have all related information available online.

"We want a system where anyone who wants to invest here can look for all the necessary information online such as areas where they can invest and the demographics to make an informed decision," he said.

Masri also said MBS had also come up with a plan to redevelop the old Nilai town.

He said Nilai had huge potential but the fact that more than half its area was not under the commercial category had hindered its development.

"There is a huge area near the KTM Komuter station, which is also a transit point to the KL International Airport, which has remained undeveloped due to this (categorisation).

"Together with PLANMalaysia, we have come up with an outline to rejuvenate the old town," he said, adding that there were 11 anchor projects and 22 support projects being planned.