Posted by
wetbenang
at
Monday, May 15, 2006
WASTAGE WASTAGE
I was in Johore over the Wesak Day weekend to attend a friend's wedding. Finally, the guy got hitched, much to the delight of his family, no doubt. I wish him and the wife well. As we were driving from Kluang to Mersing, where the wedding reception was held, I noticed an imposing house on a hill, with ornate fencing and well tended compound. "Oh, that's the DO's residence," my Johore-born and bred sister volunteered. Me, who was Kelantan-born and bred, thought the house was fit for at least a Menteri Besar. Definitely it was much, much better looking than the house of Kelantan's Menteri Besar.
"So much wastage we have in Johore," said my sister, gesturing now to a row of potted plants lining one of Kluang's thoroughfares. The money, she said, should have been spent elsewhere. Uhmm, I agreed, as my thought raced back to KL, where DBKL has also been on a city beautification drive for some time now. A lot of streets in the city have been "beautified" with potted plants, flower beds and hanging baskets.
They do make the streets look pleasant. But the thing is, DBKL chooses to use plants that probably last three to four weeks on most of its flower beds. After that, they die and would be replaced. It looks like DBKL needs a lot of money to keep replacing these plants. Which translates into ... wastage, and oh, how could I forget ... lucrative income for the contracted nurseries.
Why can't DBKL use more lasting perennials? Those that require less maintenance? I'm sure there are lots of other species in the contractors' nurseries that its landscape consultants could choose. Yup. Landscape consultants. There's such a profession, you know.
Use the money on more relevant stuff, lah. Like fixing up those potholes, providing more pedestrian-friendly side-walks, upgrading and maintaining public toilets. These are just a few examples.
Talk about landscaping, I used to enjoy driving south. I thought the NSE was one of the better-landscaped highways. All those mature trees and flowering plants that served as the divider of the opposing lanes were so cantik and colourful.
Not anymore. The owner-operator of the NSE is upgrading some stretches of the highway into three-lane carriageway, and has been uprooting and destroying all those wonderful trees and plants. What a shame. In their place, I assume, would be the cold metal barrier.
Personally, I don't think the upgrading is quite necessary. OK. May be at busy stretches near Senawang. But at the rest of the highways? No need, lah. Having three lanes per way would further confuse the already confused Malaysian drivers. As of now, they think that the middle lane is the slow lane, so they overtake using both the left lane and the fast lane. Besides, the left lane is almost always empty.
Logically speaking, having three lanes per way is also not very safe. I think when driving, it would be easier to predict the reaction of other drivers on a two-lane carriageway if something happens on one of the lanes. After all, you only have two lanes to negotiate. Kalau ada tiga lanes, macam tak berape sure nak pegi to which lane if something happens.
But hey, someone needs to make money. The work was sanctioned by the government. Ka-ching for the builders. I read the owner-operator issued bonds to raise fund to use for the upgrading work. Ka-ching for the financial institutions involved. And if there's an increase in toll charges once the upgrading is complete, ka-ching for the owner-operator. After that, it can go chink-chink champagne glasses with its sister company the builders.
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