SANDAKAN: The Sandakan Municipal Council (MPS) has been told to improve its outstanding arrears recovery measures.
“To allow the house assessment dues to accumulate until RM 33 million shows there are weaknesses in their recovery measures that need to be rectified,” MCA Libaran Division chairman Dato’ Chin Kim Hiung said on Wednesday.
Chin was commenting on the press statement by MPS president Wong Foo Tin on the house assessment arrears published in both print and online media on Wednesday.
Chin pointed out that to say that the defaulters have impeded MPS’s efforts from providing better services to the people would be unfair to those who have settled their house assessment rates.
“It is the responsibility of MPS being the local authority to give the best services to the Sandakan people,” Chin who is also Sabah MCA Treausrer added.
On Wednesday, Wong was quoted in news reports saying property owners in Sandakan owed MPS RM 33 million in house assessment arrears.
Wong said as of 15 June 2020 only 58.3% property owners settled their house assessment rates and the low revenue collection has impeded MPS from providing better services to the people, adding that, Sandakan folks wanted the best service from MPS but yet they were not paying their annual house assessment.
Wong said MPS was in the process of implementing measures to recover the arrears which included listing defaulters in CTOS, suspending services to defaulters, taking defaulters to court, publishing names of defaulters in newspapers.-pr/BNN
