Blog visitor Michael Maguire suggests that there are some hidden welfare beneficiaries in our midst.
The ‘out of sight out of mind’ attitude (regarding waste disposal) prevalent among many small, medium and large contractors as well as the government is hard to believe, given the readily available science and camera technology today, never mind the naked eye.
There are no excuses today to burn rubbish anywhere, because science tells us it disperses pollutants far and wide. Even if the smoke emanating from the incinerator looks clear, it is not. It is really no different to the scenario I have painted below with regard to action removing rubbish from sight.
If a small contractor can save his/her client some money by making his contract seem low cost, then he will cut corners to ensure he maximises his profit. When renovating a house there will always be ‘rubbish’ which should be separated out into recyclables at source. However, if the recovery cost exceeds the dumping cost then the contractor would prefer to dump. To further save cost he will load his truck and direct the driver to dump it as close as possible in a forest. By doing this he does not have to pay dumping costs, driver costs, truck costs. The client is happy, his place is immediate house and surroundings are clean. The contractor is happy he got the job and made money.
Who or what is the loser in this?
The forest and its flora and fauna. Any toxic waste like plaster board, paint etc will kill both trees and animals. Waste clogs the natural streams which leads to flooding. People suffer as floods are caused by blocked drains destroying property and often lives. Never mind the visible and smelly piles of rubbish. Government spends public money fixing landslips caused by flooding and so it goes on.
In other words, the cost of any development, from a small house renovation to a high-rise is not just the final building, but costs to the environment and other effected people. The contractors backed by more wealthy developers never pay the true cost of their disruption to the natural environment.
Put another way, contractors, developers and big business are today’s welfare beneficiaries; they depend on the government to clean up messes, fix roads, make new roads, pay for problems from increased runoff from their concrete builds. But I know they would not consider themselves welfare beneficiaries, rather quite the opposite – they are the economy’s drivers, they make things happen, bravo.
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Electricity could rise as much as 19%, from 33.5 sen/kWh to 40 sen sen/kWh, early next year when the government cuts fuel subsidies for power producers.
IPPs will stand to benefit?
The once-famous Lido Beach (Pantai Lido) in Johor Bahru is all but disappeared from sight with the recent construction of coastal 6-lane highway and more reclaimation works for coastal condominium projects – RM4 billion Lido Boulevard( an integrated residential and commercial waterfront development) that spans 2.4km along the Tebrau Strait coastal line. Not sure if this is a sustainable development. http://super325.com/2012/07/19/all-systems-go-for-rm4-billion-in-lido-beach-front-project-11-photos/ Somehow the JB folks are more forgiving towards their state government, although Lido Beach is basically a public space for picnic and recreation. Maybe Lido Beach is no longer important in their eyes compared to how Penangites treasure their… Read more »
Opportunities cost just transfer to somewhere else. It doesn’t disappear. Burning rubbish is just a small thesis and examples in Bolehland. Introducing cheap foreign country labor into the country is another opportunities cost that cost billions that Malaysian people rarely realise. Even after pointing out the infection disease that already eradicate from Malaysia for decades that make a “come back” from those much corrupted/lack of vaccination country, it FAIL to catch attention from the public, and it PLAY DOWN by the media. Malaysia TB case increase and now under alarming rates. And to “bring back the good old Tanah Melayu… Read more »
Najib’s residence consu,e an average of RM6000 worth of electricity a day.
TNB meter faulty or just wastage?
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agree, 1000% with Anil, our children and grand children will suffer… take for instance YTL, has a concrete producing factory at Sentul Raya, they openly burn the rubbish and pollute the environment…what action is taken???….none at all by DBKL