Chow, who is the state local government, traffic management and flood mitigation committee chairman, gave as example Penang’s successful application to the federal government for exemption from a national act on solid waste management, the Solid Waste and Public Cleaning Act 2007 (Act 672).
The exemption, Chow said, meant that Penang local authorities were solely and wholly responsible for solid waste management in the state.
“In this regard, we are given the freedom and liberty to not wholly adopt, or to just adopt the part that is relevant to Penang.
“Based on our political grouping, it is not that we are choosing to be naughty, but given the freedom we want to exercise, we are able to take up initiatives.
“Of course, we adhere to national laws. We don’t violate them, but we are given freedom to make adjustments to local conditions and environment.
“When we are given that freedom, we can do things much better, and not come solely under the watchful eye of the federal government,” he told a two-day Symposium on Sustainable Penang titled “Can Penang Be Made Sustainable By 2030?”.
The act, which came into force on Sept 1, 2011, effectively standardises the privatisation of solid waste management in the country.
The privatisation deal means the handling of garbage is no longer in the hands of local councils.
Chow was responding to a comment made by a symposium participant, who said that Singapore, being a city-state, was able to do everything under the sun.
There was also the impression that the states in Malaysia, including Penang, might not have the freedom to do what they liked, as they were subject to national guidelines and laws.
Chow said while this was true, one need not necessarily be constrained by the political reality of being a state.
“There is quite a lot of freedom if we dare to explore opportunities and possibilities of doing things our way.
“There are good practices we can adopt, such as those from the United Nations (UN) and other international agencies.”
However, Chow also said there were certain downsides to the present situation, such as the federal government withholding approval of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for any project for a long time, and not giving approval for public transport schemes not because these could not be done, but due to politics.