Pekan: Royal town and PM's constituency, but...

HARAKAHDAILY EXCLUSIVE When even a royal town which doubles as the prime minister's own constituency is a picture of filth, why should one expect anything more for Malaysia's other towns and cities? Harakahdaily's ARSHAD KHAN recently stopped at Pekan, Pahang, and vowed never to return.
Whatever happened to Malaysia's health inspectors and enforcement? Do such departments and their personnel still exist or have they absorbed into other departments with different roles?
Somehow, these departments really do not exist anymore for the last decade or so, otherwise how could the food outlets be allowed to operate under unhygienic conditions?
Pekan, Pahang is just one of the hundreds of towns all over the country with dirty eateries and zero enforcement. But other than being honoured with the country's top member of parliament as its representative, there is little else the residents here could be proud of.
Pekan is a small coastal town near the mouth of the Pahang river. There are some important features and dwellings but do not attract much tourists except those needing a journey’s break bound for the north from the south or the other way around.
This was supposed to be motorway but converted for food stalls
There are no food for the adventurous palates and cottage products are negligible. Treeless and hot, it has nothing to offer to outsiders.
Even the fact that the Prime Minister hails from Pekan has not made the place popular other than some ‘planned’ industries for livelihood of the voters. The indigenous people have been driven out of their natural habitat in the nearby forests and placed in ramshackles with nothing much to do for a decent living; theirs is a pathetic situation even though they are the real people of the land we live in.
What happened to their former forests? Your guess is as good as mine! Did someone scream "Timber!"?
Never flowing water in drains
In Pekan’s town centre we find garbage strewn almost behind every building, in the drains and alley ways. All over, the drains do not flow but remain stagnant with dark - at times pus-like, water heavily loaded with all sorts of garbage. Does this remind you of anything?
Yes, riverside dwellings where all the human activities one could think of are done daily. They are like the buffalo tied to a pole, grazing, does its business, and then sits down after a while for a rest or snooze!
Yes, that is how people should be compared. People who can think have choices whereas buffaloes cannot think like man and when they are tied, have no choice at all. Humans are not tied at a point but never learn.
Old stalls left to rot, attracting cockroaches, rats and flies
So what sort of garbage are we talking about? Every kind, mainly plastic bags, paper wrappings, sand, litter swept from shops, cigarette butts and packets, discarded clothes, household items, etc.
How could this happen? Garbage bins are nowhere to be seen and collection of garbage is not systematic but erratic. Damaged drains trap or impede the flow of garbage-laden water. All these dirty sites are within sight and around food outlets.
How is it Malaysia is unable to enforce the no-smoking law at food outlets? Smokers are among the biggest culprits, not only with littering but air pollution and health hazard.
What happens during and after each annual flood that strikes Pekan? All the garbage from the drains, alleys and other locations float freely around. When the floods subside, this garbage rots, attracting all sorts of diseases, pests and hence the spread of these diseases, some fatal.
Do not forget the stench! Do the relevant authorities think in this way or are they capable of thinking ahead?
Leaking sewage tanks, disposed garbage
This location in Pekan was visited early February 2011. When I asked around why garbage collection is not carried out, "we do not know anything" was one answer.
Another, "what can we do? When we forget to pay rent or tax, then someone will come over or during election times".
Then why do you vote for the same people, I normally would ask. "What choice do we have? We would be chased out if someone were unhappy with us". Such answers are common.
So, who has been slacking? The politicians or the civil servants? Perhaps the civil servants wait till they get orders from their political masters or someone else? All work should have been programmed and funds allocated the previous year and then carried out accordingly in the current year.
At times I hear "no more funds or funds not available". How could this happen? Maybe the funds make ‘U’ turns, get leaked or misappropriated. What else is new.