A Penang Town and Country Planning Department (JPBD) spokesperson said ePintas received all sorts of complaints.
“Sometimes people don’t know which department to take their complaints to. They can visit the ePintas website to fill out the online form and describe the problem.
“Heads of departments of various government bodies in the state have access to this website. As they are notified directly, the relevant department will respond in three days, at the most.
“ePintas is more convenient as the complaint can be filed at any hour of the day,” she told FMT.
The spokesperson was commenting on a complaint about noise pollution at a reclamation site in Pantai Jerejak over the weekend.
Baystar Condominium resident S Geeta told reporters noise from the machines and heavy vehicles working at the site in front of her condo went on till after midnight. The reclamation work, she said, started a year ago.
She said she had posted complaints on the Facebook pages of the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and her local representative, Mohd Rashid Hasnon, but the problem had not been addressed.
The spokesperson said Geeta should have filed a complaint with the right department, which was JPBD.
“The matter is not under the council, so the council can’t help her. This is why we say ePintas is useful.
“People with complaints must come forward and tell us what is going on since we cannot post our officers at the sites round the clock.
“The relevant department will be able to investigate and act accordingly when it has the details,” she said.
The spokesperson said a stop work order would be issued to the developer undertaking the reclamation if it was true that work was continuing past the permitted hour of 11pm at the site.
She said the department had also contacted the developer with a reminder to follow the permitted work hours following news reports of the noise pollution.
Geeta said since news reports of her complaint were published last Sunday, there had been no noise from the reclamation site after 11pm.
“But we still hope to stop the reclamation. The dust chokes residents in the area,” she said, referring to the residents’ protest against the development since 2014.
The ePintas website can be found at epintas.penang.gov.my.