Tawau LDP queries rates plan
Published on: Saturday, December 07, 2019
TAWAU: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Apas Youth Chief Lim Ting Khai took the Tawau Municipal Council to task over its decision to collect assessment from certain non-housing estate residential properties in Tanjung Batu and Merotai effective January 1.He said the imposition of assessment on these properties were unreasonable and untimely in view of the sluggish economy.
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Lim pointed out that the government should look into ways to alleviate the people’s burden, not to squeeze money out of the people.
It was learned that the council imposed the assessment to pay for garbage collection services in the outskirts.
However, he said imposing the assessment solely for rubbish collection was unjustified as the council could seek allocation from the Member of Parliament or Assemblymen instead.
Alternatively, he said the waste collection company could request for extra charges from the villagers in order to provide its services rather than through the tax assessment.
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Citing an example, Lim said Semporna has drastically transformed into a clean township since the government embarked on a large-scale awareness campaign.
“There is much less garbage in the outskirts and beaches in Semporna nowadays.
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“The local authority did not collect assessment from the people to handle the garbage.”
He said the Tawau Municipal Council should install street lamps, repair roads, build sewerage system and carry out regular grass cutting and drain maintenance before moving on to collecting the assessment.
“It is known that residential properties in non-housing estates do not enjoy the such services.”
He added that it was unfair to impose additional tax on people living in the outskirts even if the council was facing financial challenges.
“Take Kampung Pasir Putih as example, this area is flooded almost whenever time it rains.
“It is unreasonable to collect assessment and further increasing the burden of these villagers.”
Lim hoped that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal would look into this issue as the collection of assessment would exacerbate the poor villagers’ financial burden in Merotai and Tanjung Batu, especially during the time when schools reopened.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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