Our local councils of today

Having thought about the local municipal councils of yesteryears, you would be hard pressed to come up with positive comments to make. I am sure many of us can remember the times when numerous calls were made for the clearance of waste, drain blockages and road potholes to be sorted out and got nowhere.

Anyway, recently a car accident happened outside the junction to our housing estate. It was caused by a blindspot created by some shrubbery planted by an inconsiderate resident who couldn't be bothered to trim it down. We knew about the problem but never bothered to take any action until the said accident.

As the size of the problem required quite a bit of manpower, we had no choice but to call in the local Padawan council. A letter was hastily written, faxed and sent via post to the council. Guess what, the council actually responded and rectified the problem within days. We couldn't believe it and dismissed it as a fluke.

Then until a few weeks ago, a neighbour approached us since we're the housing estate's nearest busybodies to write the council about another plant related matter. This time it's an overgrown tree blocking out the only street light at our block. I hope the council also make a note of that. Our neighbour was sure it indirectly contributed to a recent breakin at another neighbour's.

So we did the same thing, faxed and wrote a letter asking for assistance. Nothing happened for a quite a while and decided to use an alternative form of communication to get their attention. Checking up on the council's website would be a start and found a centralised online request website provided for by the state government. We resent the request again this time via online form and the crew came in within 24 hours and sorted out the problem. Talk about speed. Looks like they only respond to requests made online.

Now, we're actually quite impressed and must make a point of acknowledging that improvements were ACTUALLY made over the years to serve the local residents better. Kudos to the people who works at Padawan Council. But don't rest on your laurels because now we taking note of your performance. For now, WELL DONE!