The Penang Island Municipal Council could boost its income if ends the practice of privatising the management of parking bays and installs meters, according to Penang DAP organising secretary Danny Law Heng Kiang.

In the last fiscal year, the council had earned RM4.6 million in parking fees from the metered system used in George Town.

However, it has yet to gazette about 100 roads in other areas where there are almost10,000 parking bays. Instead, these have been contracted out to private operators on annual basis, "for token sums of money".

Law chided the council for having tabled a RM75 million deficit budget recently and said it could have reduced the deficit if "it had opened its eyes to see where the money is available".

"MPPP will surely earn more through the metered parking system than by privatising management of the parking bays," he said.

He claimed that political pressure had forced the council to award parking contracts to bidders with lower bids than their rivals.

"Tenders are now offered and secured in closed-door deals. Most contractors are political cronies, who are rewarded for their support."

He cited an instance early last year when a RM18,000-contract bid by an experienced parking contractor to operate nearly 400 lots in George Town had been turned down in favour of a

RM14, 300 bid by a supporter of ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional.

Law suggested the council should immediately begin phasing out privatised management of parking bays and replace this with the metered system.

"Within a year, the council will be financially healthier and ratepayers will benefit from this," he added.

ATHI VEERANGGAN is malaysiakini's Penang-based stringer.