MPSepang to set up special team for services that require urgent action

THE Sepang Municipal Council (MPSepang) is in the midst of forming Pantas, a team that will serve as an early responder for urgent services required by the council. “The Pantas team will attend to matters on infrastructure maintenance and emergencies,” said MPSepang president Mohd Sayuthi Bakar. “These include patching roads, covering potholes and removing fallen trees, as well as lending assistance during floods and landslide.” Sayuthi said MPSepang was in the process of getting the required staff, as well as logistics and equipment for Pantas. It can be contacted via MPSepang’s hotline. “In terms of staff, we will have between 10 and 15 personnel who will be working in shifts. “They will comprise a mix of existing and new staff,” he said. “We will have the team ready by next month, while the logistics and equipment will be acquired by the third quarter of 2013,” he added.
Though MPSepang has yet to decide which department Pantas would report to as it involves dealing with issues under various departments, Sayuthi said this special task force may be formed as separate department of its own. “Pantas, which is actually a rebranding of the Quick Response Team (QRT), is part of the five-year plan mooted by new Local Government, Studies and Research executive councillor Datuk Teng Chang Khim,” he said, adding that MPSepang previously had a QRT that handled issues on garbage collection. Sayuthi had announced the outline of Teng’s plan during last Thursday’s full board meeting. Other programmes include a Field Beautification Project to upgrade two fields or playgrounds under each assemblyman’s jurisdiction each year, upgrading public markets, free bus service in the township and live telecast of monthly council meetings. “We will try to accommodate any programme we can, as these were not factored into MPSepang’s budget for 2013,” said Sayuthi. “Several departments like Landscaping and Enforcement will have to draw up proposals for these programmes. “The full implementation of the plan will most likely begin next year.”

Source: TheStar