4.

0 ISSUES / CHALLENGES

4.1 The capacity of the local government to manage the region

Local governments must be vested with complete power or authority. This is to ensure that
the local government is capable of doing any duty in an effort to improve the efficacy and
efficiency of its operations. Additionally, this will simplify the decision-making procedure.
Without the ability to complete duties, local government programmes and operations will
fail. Local government is responsible for delivering municipal services in designated areas,
including general hygiene care, waste collection, general health, and the provision of toilet
systems and sewage conduits. Local government is the organisation that offers this service.
The authority for a city has comparatively many areas of responsibility for carrying out and
providing services. In general, a local authority is a legislatively formed entity whose actions
are limited to the powers and responsibilities stipulated by law.

The capability of local government can be measured by its income and resources. Local
government has its own obligations and responsibilities, thus it is evident that it requires the
necessary cash and resources. This clause will ensure that programmes or activities can be
developed without any problems or issues developing in the future. This issue or problem
must be considered by the local government because it will impede the program's or
activity's smooth operation. For this reason, the local government's ability to administer
their region is crucial, as all programmes and activities are intended to foster harmony in the
lives of local citizens. The administrative system of the Malaysian government establishes
the local authority as the third government after the federal and state governments, making
it one of the most important institutions. It is common knowledge that the local authority is
the agency closest to the local population because so many of the citizens' daily activities,
such as licencing, taxation, and maintenance of public amenities, involve the local authority.
Consequently, local governments are never immune to issues and are always the focus of
local inhabitants.
From the past to the present, local authorities have frequently been criticised and local
authority centres have encountered difficulties. In order to achieve the government's
objective of a developed nation by 2023, local authorities must collaborate in researching
development opportunities for the advancement of a region. Now, local authorities are
confronted with numerous obstacles, including those of a political, economic, social,
technological, and environmental nature.

4.2 Economic issues

When viewed from the perspective of the global economic situation, which is currently in a
state of crisis, this problem and challenge has now developed into a very persistent form of
both. Malaysia has been affected by the global state of the economy, which is currently
experiencing the beginning stages of a downward spiralling recession. The number of
people losing their jobs is growing every day, and in addition to that, many factories have
begun to slow down their operations. Both of these factors actually have an effect on the
PBT. Because this economic crisis takes a relatively slow time to be felt and certainly many
will feel it in a relatively long period of time, many economic analysts state that this crisis
will be worse than the crisis that was experienced in 1997. This is due to the fact that this
economic crisis takes a relatively slow time to become noticeable. Because it is possible that
many local residents in a PBT do not have jobs and this is the time for the PBT to diversify
the economic branches in that area, the PBT has a rather weighty role and responsibility in
confronting the economic crisis. This is due to the fact that the PBT has a rather heavy role
and responsibility in confronting the economic crisis. A local government that has been
incorporated in accordance with the local government act (act 171) and that, in terms of its
authority, possesses independent powers in matters pertaining to administration,
management, and finances. PBT is in complete command of its financial management in
every respect, including the collection of gate tax revenue, non-tax revenue, and other
revenue.
Now, the media frequently publishes news about the PBT's failures in managing an area,
and the issue that is frequently brought up is the PBT's inability to effectively manage waste
waste, which manifests itself in the form of delays in garbage collection and, on occasion,
the PBT's refusal to collect garbage piles at all, despite the fact that residents are required to
pay a door tax. The lack of capital, also known as money, is the reason that is most
frequently cited in relation to this issue. This is due to the fact that the hiring of employees,
the purchase of garbage trucks, and the maintenance of PBT machinery assets are all related
to money. This problem is not actually experienced by all PBTs rather, it is only encountered
by a small number of PBTs. Furthermore, PBTs that have the status of municipal councils
and district councils generally do not encounter this problem because their YDP are
resourceful enough to discover new results; likewise, for PBTs that have the status of city
councils, only a small number of PBTs encounter this problem. Take, for instance, the City
Council of Alor Setar. The Shah Alam City Council, the Melaka City Council, and the Kuching
City Council all ran into a shortfall in their budgets, but they did not have persistent financial
issues. (from the article written by Tan Sri Sidek Hassan on November 3, 2008).

4.3 Challenges in environmental management

Systematic Environmental Management is an important part of making sure that both cities
and rural areas are safe and healthy for the people who live there. To protect the
environment, the government, the private sector, organizations, communities, and
individuals need to do their part and be committed. It must be done by building a culture
and an appreciation of values that are good for the environment, as well as by making a
mutual need in which each side plays its own role. In this way, PBT is responsible for taking
care of the environment and making sure that environmental laws are followed in their own
areas. Pollution is one of the problems and challenges of protecting the environment.
Water, air, and noise pollution are all types of pollution. There are also problems with
getting rid of trash, flash floods, and landslides.
In this sense, water pollution is a significant challenge and problem, as evidenced by the fact
that PBT monitoring in each state identified 146 rivers around the country, 15 of which,
including the Klang River, were polluted and inundated. Since 1990, there has been an
increase in the number of contaminated waterways. One of the reasons of river pollution is
the problem of residential sewage water, since structural planning issues associated with
sewage water leaving the home are the cause of water pollution. Because the water is not
purified before being discharged into the ditch and then the river, the cause of water
pollution will worsen in the present and the future. More than two-thirds of the rivers in our
country are polluted with sewage water, according to data (source: Haliza Abdul Rahman, A
Review of the Flash Flood Problem in the Klang Valley, 8-9 September 2007).

Air pollution is also a problem for PBT because people and other living things need clean air
to survive. For example, more than 90% of haze pollution comes from outside sources, such
as fires in neighbouring countries and open burning done by farmers and settlers in order to
grow crops. This is a problem for PBT if the situation stays the same and nothing is done to
change it. Air pollution happens in our own country, too, because of cars and trucks. When
fuel is burned in cars and trucks, it raises the temperature and makes the air dirty. Putting in
air conditioners when it's hot is also bad for the environment because it uses a lot of gas.
Pollution from waste is also a big problem for PBT. This is because the factory uses
dangerous chemicals and toxics to make things like fluorescent lights, batteries, and parts
for cell phones, which are used by almost everyone. In this way, PBT is an important part of
solving these problems and issues.
4.4 Social challenges

Social aspects such as quality of life, housing issues, poverty, social symptoms, crime,
municipal problems, influx of foreign workers, etc. are very challenging, and this situation is
a direct result of the state of globalisation, which affects the economic sector as well as the
social life of contemporary society. One of the key difficulties of the impact of poorly
managed urban development is the reduction in the quality of life of the community in the
city. The features that must be stressed in order to become a developed and sustainable city
are the quality of supporting infrastructure and a high quality of life provided by the supply
of suitable housing, education, recreation, and health services. The biggest concern in terms
of housing provision is a lack of housing for low-income populations. The lack of housing for
low-income individuals has resulted in the emergence of slums in the country's major urban
centres. The presence of slums with inadequate infrastructural facilities has caused many
environmental difficulties in metropolitan areas, as well as side consequences such as social
problems and vandalism, which prevents the public amenities from being used correctly.

This urbanisation process poses a significant challenge to PBT because it leads to the
migration of labour from rural to urban regions, and because the population density in
metropolitan areas will necessitate the creation of new settlements. However, the majority
of employees that went to metropolitan regions settled in slums. This causes issues for the
local community and PBT. This is due to the fact that slums produce societal issues like as
grazing, stealing, and rape. In addition, water, power, and health care services in slum
regions are ad hoc due to their poor quality, which complicates PBT's efforts to find a
solution to this issue.