KOTA KINABALU: A former Sabah minister has called for the privatisation of the Sandakan Municipal Council (MPS) following numerous complaints over the lack of maintenance and cleanliness of public amenities.
Datuk Frankie Poon (pic), who is Tanjong Papat rep, said privatising the MPS would address these issues as well as collection of taxes and assessments.
“The council would collect more income as property and business owners alike would be more eager to settle their dues to the council diligently and speedily.
“Instead, MPS seem more focused on collections of dues rather than (improving performance),” the former state health and people’s well-being minister said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 13).
This was not the first time Poon, as well as other Sandakan representatives, had raised issues over MPS’ performance and services to the public.
In October, he told MPS to put on hold an increase in house assessment rates from 2024.
The previous month, Parti Warisan assemblymen - Calvin Chong (Elopura) Arunarnsin Taib (Gum Gum) and Alias Sani (Sekong)- from the Sandakan area had also urged the state government to not go ahead with the increment as people were suffering from the high cost of living.
During a state assembly session in March 2022, MPS came under fire from a number of lawmakers over its alleged lack of services to Sandakan residents, with Poon saying roads were in bad shape in the town area besides having a sewage problem.
Former state local government and housing minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun had in September last year said much was needed to improve in Sandakan before it could attain city status.
The process to elevate SMC’ status into a City Hall was still ongoing despite efforts over a decade ago, he said.
Poon said the Sabah Local Government and Housing Ministry must ensure that SMC was run efficiently, adding that this will ensure investors were not put off.
“By having a privatised council, everything will be based on time and delivery.
“Despite the fact that it (SMC) has two deputy presidents, has the council been run efficiently?
“We must have a proactive council and resolve issues before they arise - not a knee-jerk council,” he said.
