HAVE you noticed the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) workers cleaning up rubbish from the streets and dislodging blockages from the drains?
These are the work of our unsung heroes, our fellow council workers.
On a Sunday when most people are asleep, these tireless men are sweeping the streets, standing in the middle of a busy intersection, ensuring our streets are clean.
These heroes have painstakingly taken their time away from their families to fulfil their obligations to make Penang island clean and beautiful as it is today.
However, there are some top people at the council who need to learn a thing or two from their subordinates, especially with the recent flurry of accidents involving beach sports activities at the tourist belts.
It is hard to believe that the top council members do not seem to be bothered about the on-goings at the beach.
Recently, local dailies, including the New Straits Times, have reported about incidents involving beach sports activities that had gone bad. For instance, the parasailing accident at Batu Ferringhi two weeks back where someone was injured.
Calls to the council for comment have been futile as nobody seemed to know what was going on.
An officer who picked up the phone said he was not sure about the incident as she had not read the newspapers.
Is this acceptable?
The council has not come out to give any statement in response to the accidents along the beach.
It was learnt that MPPP and the water sports operator involved in a parasailing mishap were absolved of any blame by an inquiry board.
The board comprising representatives from the state government, the council, police, hoteliers and several government departments was set up by the council.
The council's recreation, tourism and international affairs department director Mohamed Akbar Mustapha said a landing area for parasailers had been marked with cones.
Kangeyan Ramachandran, 51, the victim, has cried foul over MPPP's decision not to call him for the meeting, so that he can give his version of the story.
"Why didn't the council call me or one of my friends. I could have given my account of the incident," he said.
Kangeyan told the NST that there were no cones marking the landing area.
It's high time the council focuses on the popular tourist belt as tourism is Penang's rice bowl.
For now the Penangites can count on council workers on the streets, but can we count on their superiors, the people higher up who make important policy decisions?
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