I would like to take the Penang Gerakan Youth Chief H’ng Chee Wey’s remarks that the Penang government is ignoring refuse collection, to task. The councillors as well as members of the staff at the City Council of Penang Island (MBPP) are constantly working hard to ensure that any shortcomings with cleanliness are swiftly dealt with and not left to rot as alleged by H’ng. All members of the city council are constantly in contact and will follow up on complaints.

As far as construction sites being breeding grounds for mosquitoes is concerned, the council does not and will not tolerate any such cases and will investigate any report of that sort and will not hesitate to take stern action on any construction sites if mosquitoes are found to be breeding in the area. All construction sites have a collective responsibility towards the health and well-being of the people in the area and the council is constantly monitoring the situation.

Members of the public can always report any cases of cleanliness directly to the council or even to the councillors. Our contacts are published on the MBPP website and we will assist the public with their complains. Should any rubbish collection be slow, we can be contacted and will deal with the issue immediately.

Under the Pakatan Rakyat administration of the Penang state government, Penang has drastically transformed itself from ‘Darul Sampah’ as nicknamed by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to reclaim its original nickname as the ‘Pearl of the Orient’.

I would like to remind H’ng that the ‘Darul Sampah’ nickname was bestowed on Penang during the time of the BN administration by a BN prime minister in Dr Mahathir. Truly, while we welcome criticism from Penangites, the BN should also be reminded of their previous track record.

I would also point out that Penang had been called the most liveable city in Malaysia before and is tied with Kuala Lumpur in the latest ECA International rankings. All this happened during the administration of the Pakatan Rakyat Penang state government.

CHRIS LEE CHUN KIT is Penang DAP Socialist Youth state deputy chief and an MBPP councillor.