theSun | WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7 2008
Free public WiFi
test drive soon
by Himanshu Bhatt
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PENANG folk will get a first taste of the state
government’s free public WiFi and subscrip-
tion WiMAX broadband initiative when the
services are tested out at several pilot sites
in a fortnight.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng hailed the
move as a massive boost for luring invest-
ment, while allaying safety concerns that a
“WiFi fog” over the whole state would pose
health risks.
He denied that his administration has
been dismissive of health-related criticisms
against the wireless project.
“We have entertained objections, that’s
why there was a delay. But we found there
was no basis,” he told a press conference at
his office in Komtar here yesterday.
The test-drive exercises come just three
months after the pilot launch of the project,
dubbed Wireless@Penang, last October.
Once the services are launched, Penang
will be the first state in Malaysia to offer free
WiFi with unlimited access.
Lim stressed that the project will be rolled
State awaits federal approval
for waste management system
SUNPIX BY MASRY CHE ANI
PENANG is awaiting cabinet
approval for the construction of
an Integrated Solid Waste Man-
agement (ISWM) system at two
landfills – Jelutong on the island
and Pulau Burung in Seberang
Perai.
State local government and
environment committee chair-
man Chow Kon Yeow said the
federal government had earlier
approved the project to put in
the ISWM system under the 5R
concept.
The 5R concept comprises
recovery of organic waste; reuse
of recyclable material; reclama-
tion of combustible material;
reclamation of construction and
demolition waste; and, recycling of
household hazardous waste.
“The ISWM system, consisting of a
Material Recovery Facility (MRF), will
take about two years to build and once
completed, will be a better waste man-
agement system,” he said.
Chow said the state government
now has a road map to deal with the
state’s waste disposal problem with the
setting up of the MRF but it was put on
hold pending final approval from the fed-
eral government despite being proposed
several years ago.
“For now, we will still need to dispose
of our waste in the Pulau Burung landfill,”
he said, when asked to comment on a
blog post by Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi calling
for the Jelutong landfill to be completely
shut down,
Ooi, who had a few days ago posted
in his blog pictures of the Jelutong
landfill showing smoke emitting from
the landfill after fire broke out in the
area, had complained of the stench and
leachate from the landfill and called for
its complete shutdown.
Chow said there is no other land
available on the island suitable for use
as a landfill.
As for Ooi’s complaints of leachate
leaking from the landfill, Chow urged
MPs and state assemblymen to be more
responsible when making statements.
“The landfill is now strictly being
used for disposal of construction and
demolition waste only so there should
not be any excessive amount of leach-
ate,” he said.
13
out without any capital investment and oper-
ating expenditure incurred by the state.
During the test-drive promotions, service
provider RedTone-Hotgate Consortium will
set up “experience booths” at three pilot sites,
featuring free WiFi and phone-calls over the
Internet using the Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP) platform.
WiMAX operator Packet One Networks
(M) Sdn Bhd will set up booths on the island
and the mainland to allow pre-registered
customers and the public to experience the
high-speed broadband.
Packet One has already signed up more
than 4,000 pre-registered users in Penang.
The pilot sites for the WiFi service will
be at Komtar, Queensbay Mall and Bukit
Jambul Complex, while those for WiMAX
will be at five sites covering a major part
of George Town. Another two WiMAX trial
sites are being installed in Bukit Tengah and
Bukit Mertajam on the mainland.
“We are negotiating with several parties
to match-make local content developers with
grant providers, so that Penang becomes a
key hub for digital content development,”
Lim said.
The
However, Chow conceded that some
controversial
irresponsible people may have smug-
Jelutong
gled organic waste to be dumped into
dumpsite
the site but said there was nothing the
is close to
local council can do about it.
residential
“We can’t be checking every single
buildings in
truck that enters the dumpsite,” he
George Town,
said.
affecting
Chow said 600 tonnes of waste are
residents
dumped in the Jelutong landfill daily, so
with its
if it was closed down, the waste would
stench and
have to be transported to Pulau Burung
smoke.
via Batu Maung.
“We now transport other solid waste,
including household waste to Pulau Bu-
rung, but if we are also to move bulky
waste from Jelutong to Pulau Burung,
the cost will be very high,” he said.
It costs the government RM50 per
tonne for contractors to transport the
waste to Pulau Burung, so it would
cost an extra RM30,000 per day just to
transport the bulky waste if the Jelutong
landfill is closed and 600 more tonnes of
waste must be moved to Pulau Burung
daily.
Chow said there are only two ways
to reduce the amount of waste go-
ing to the Jelutong and Pulau Burung
landfills.
Massive
One is through the 3R programme land bank
(Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) to get to benefit
consumers to recycle their waste, and
second is with the construction of the
Sime
MRF. Darby
“The MRF will be able to cut down pg 16
the amount of rubbish going to the land-
fills so we hope it will get the cabinet’s
approval soon,” he added.