Metro

Saturday June 16, 2012

23 MPSP coucillors get computer tablets and notebooks

By DERRICK VINESH
derrickvinesh@thestar.com.my


ALL 23 Seberang Prai Municipal (MPSP) councillors were beaming as they received brand new iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and computer notebook devices from the council.

The MPSP gave away the devices to the councillors as part of its efforts towards enhancing work efficiency.

Eighteen of the councillors opted for the iPad, two chose the Samsung Galaxy Tab, while three others picked notebooks.

Council president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said the devices, which cost the council RM62,921, were aimed at facilitating e-meetings, apart from reducing the usage of paper, in line with the state’s Cleaner, Greener, Safer and Healthier Penang policy.

“We will not switch to a totally paperless system because we still need to print documents for filing purposes.

“But, at least we can go ‘paper-less’, by using less paper in our office,” she said after chairing a full council meeting here yesterday.

Maimunah said beginning next month, all notices and meeting minutes would be sent via email as well as via the council’s exclusive online system, called Pantas, to the councillors.

She said the council also planned to spend about RM31,000 to supply similar electronic gadgets to all 15 heads of departments, so that they could synchronise operations with the councillors.

She said the gadgets were the property of the council and the recipients would have to return them when their services in the council ended.

However, she added, there was a scheme drawn up, if they wanted to buy up the gadgets at discounted prices.

Councillor S. Kusala Kumari @ Rynu said with the iPad, the councillors could snap photos of a problem on the spot and email them to the relevant departments for necessary action in less than five minutes.

Another councillor Steven Sim Chee Keong said he used to receive documents that were almost 10cm-thick after attending One Stop Centre meetings twice a month, which would now be a thing of the past with the iPad.

Fellow councillor Teoh Seang Hooi said he first mooted the idea to provide councillors with such IT gadgets in 2009, but the council could not afford them back then as it still had some financial constraints.

Another councillor Jeffrey Lim Tau Hoong said the councillors could use their iPads to check their meeting schedules and other important information online, apart from getting quick feedback from the heads of departments on problems they had attended to.

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