Arizona Department of Revenue: Public Service Value

Client
State of Arizona Department of Revenue

On the Web
www.az.gov

Project
Public Service Value Project

Shortcut to
Business Challenge
How Accenture Helped
High Performance Delivered

Executive Summary
The State of Arizona's Department of Revenue worked with Accenture to link the recent performance improvements it realized from its Business Reengineering/Integrated Tax System and apply them to the agency's mission and strategic business planning goals as identified by the new director. The project used an analysis generated from the Accenture Public Service Value Model to help form a foundation for the agency's strategic planning process, performance measurement and performance management.

Business Challenge

Arizona Department of Revenue's (AZ DOR) mission is to administer tax laws fairly and efficiently for the people of Arizona. The agency has an annual operating budget of $58.5 million and approximately 1,000 employees. In 2002, in need of an agency-wide transformation, AZ DOR partnered with Accenture in a multi-year value-based project, the Business Reengineering/Integrated Tax System (BRITS), to reengineer key agency processes and implement Accenture's integrated tax system. At approximately the same time as the agency contracted Accenture, the governor appointed a new agency director, J. Elliott Hibbs. Director Hibbs is a firm believer in performance measurement and agency planning, and quickly redefined AZ DOR's strategic planning process. As the agency's business partner, Accenture sought to find a way to link the performance improvements from the BRITS project with the agency's mission and the strategic goals of the new director.

How Accenture Helped

In need of a framework to link the BRITS project with the agency's new focus, AZ DOR became the ideal candidate for a US pilot of the Accenture Public Service Value (PSV) Model (patent pending). Accenture's PSV Model aims to help agencies strike the right balance between competing pressures to increase citizen outcomes and operate cost effectively. The model hypothesizes that those agencies delivering improved outcomes and cost effectiveness over time can become high-performance government agencies.

The BRITS project is a benefits-funded agreement (paid from increases in revenue) between AZ DOR and Accenture. The contract was designed as a fiscally responsible way to accomplish the BRITS mission: To service the needs of our customers and stakeholders by redesigning and restructuring the Department of Revenue and its supporting systems. These two motives underpinning BRITS—improved service for stakeholders and fiscal responsibility—align perfectly with the public service values stressed by PSV (outcomes and cost effectiveness).

Tactics Employed

Accenture teamed with AZ DOR for the pilot PSV analysis in the spring/summer of 2003. The analysis focused on AZ DOR performance from fiscal years 1996 to 2002. Based on Director Hibbs' positive feedback and willingness to help refine the framework, Accenture tested the model at other Revenue clients and returned to Arizona in the fall of 2003 to complete a follow up analysis with a more polished analytical approach.

The model, created by Accenture Revenue industry experts, and validated by clients and the US Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA), focuses on the four key outcomes for state revenue agencies: maximizing tax revenue, maximizing compliance rates, minimizing taxpayer burden, and maximizing responsiveness to taxpayers.

These four outcomes represent a balance of a revenue agency's statutory responsibilities and citizens' expectations for service delivery. Agency performance for these four outcomes is measured by using a series of metrics that indicate the agency's ability to deliver on a specific outcome. For example, the PSV score for the maximizing taxpayer responsiveness outcome is measured by using a series of metrics that measure the quality of AZ DOR's processing and problem resolution capabilities, such as the cycle time for income tax refunds, the abandoned call rate, and the resolution time on taxpayer correspondence cases.

Using the Revenue industry model as the starting point, the key project activities for the Arizona Department of Revenue PSV project included:

• Tailoring and weighting the PSV excel-based model to reflect the current focus of AZ DOR. As a result of the state of Arizona's current fiscal challenges, the tax revenue and compliance outcomes were weighted more heavily (at 60 percent) than the service-oriented outcomes (at 40 percent). In addition to weighting the outcomes, the model was adjusted to reflect the available historical data which AZ DOR could provide for the analysis.
  
  
• Collecting historical data to measure performance for the metrics included in the model. In this phase of the project, FY03 data was added to the previous version of the PSV analysis. Also, using its PSV experience from other Revenue clients, the Accenture team added several new metrics to the model and refined some of the existing metrics.
  
  
• Providing insight on external and internal factors, which influenced agency performance. This activity was driven by AZ DOR employees. They used their experience with the department to provide Accenture with invaluable insight on the historical context for metric and outcome trends.
  
  
• "Running" the PSV model to assess performance for the identified PSV industry outcomes, metrics, and level of cost effectiveness. This phase of the project represents the culmination of the prior project activities. The Accenture team built a Microsoft Excel-based PSV model, which calculates scores based on the metric and outcome weightings and historical data.
  
  
• Analyzing PSV results to explain changes in the client's performance over the life of the analysis (fiscal years 1996 to 2003). An in-depth understanding of the department's recent history informed the analysis.
  
  
• Identifying areas of agency strength and making recommendations for future improvements.

High Performance Delivered

The Accenture team presented key findings from the FY03 PSV analysis to AZ DOR leadership in January 2004. Findings from the analysis aligned with the key changes in AZ DOR's recent history, including:

• FY 97-99: During this period, there was a shift in the organizational culture under a prior AZ DOR director. The department's emphasis on a team–based environment and customer orientation, at the expense of more fundamental DOR functions, led to a decline in outcomes and cost effectiveness.
  
  
• FY 99-01: AZ DOR's efforts to gear up for Y2K compliance led to increased automation, decreased taxpayer burden, and improved taxpayer responsiveness.
  
  
• FY 03: Under new Director J. Elliott Hibbs, the combination of multiple factors, including a reduced budget, the Revenue Enhancement and Tax Amnesty programs, and continued improvement in reducing taxpayer burden led to value creation.

In addition to illustrating the impact of agency changes on value creation for Arizona taxpayers, the PSV project highlighted some key findings that the department could use to form future agency decisions, including:

1. Resources Drive Outcomes. Arizona Department of Revenue experienced its highest levels of PSV outcomes in 1996 and 1997. Not coincidentally, these are the two years in the analysis time period when AZ DOR had the highest adjusted expenditure per taxpayer and the most employees.
   
   
2. Improving Cost Effectiveness. AZ DOR is capitalizing on limited resources to deliver an impressive level of outcomes. The department's PSV cost effectiveness score has improved each year since 1999, reaching its high point in 2003. The improving cost effectiveness trend indicates that AZ DOR is delivering a strong level of outcomes with their limited resources.
   
   
3. Compliance Gap: Growth in actual taxpayers for AZ DOR is not keeping pace with the growth in the potential taxpaying population, especially for corporate and individual taxpayers. The increasing gap in actual vs. expected taxpayers is resulting in declining voluntary revenue (as a percentage of overall economic growth in the state).

PSV will play a key role in AZ DOR's future, serving as the agency's foundation for strategic planning, performance measurement and performance management. As next steps, the PSV team is currently working with AZ DOR to create a PSV tool that the agency will be able to use to help justify budget requests from the state and make investment and resource allocation decisions. Moreover, the PSV tool will remain an integral piece of the BRITS project, serving as the one key indicator of how this reengineering effort creates value for Arizona taxpayers.

Public Sector Performance Measurement for High Performance Government

One of the major responsibilities of any government is to deliver quality, relevant services that meet the needs of its citizens, communities, businesses and voluntary organizations. In the past few years, government organizations across Canada have been modernizing their service delivery practices through the intelligent use of technology and the introduction of alternative service delivery systems and mechanisms.

The pressures of constantly changing economic and social factors have increased the demands on government’s capacity to deliver value-added services to its clients. Accenture can help the federal and provincial governments in Canada enhance their performance in delivering public sector value by providing innovative and more efficient public services.

The Accenture Public Sector Value Model represents one of the main concerns of Canadians towards their governments—to measure performance from the citizen’s point of view. The model is unique in its approach to program performance measurement. Until now, no equivalent measure has existed in the public sector. Striving to enhance service delivery, performance measurement approaches that focus on measuring inputs (e.g., the number of police officers employed) and outputs (e.g. the number of people arrested for committing a crime) against many targets from varied levels of government, rather than outcomes (e.g., the results of policing policies on crime levels), are inadequate. Performance targets fail to take a holistic view of an agency’s performance and instead encourage a silo approach that often puts objectives at odds with each other.

This fundamental misalignment between current targets and what constitutes real value creation for the general public means that federal and provincial governments struggle to identify their true value drivers, therefore making it difficult to develop focused processes aimed at delivering more effective and efficient service. The Accenture Public Sector Value Model aims to address this fundamental challenge. It adapts the principles of Shareholder Value Analysis and is based on identifying a set of citizen-focused outcomes against which cost-effective delivery is measured.

The Accenture Public Sector Value Model is not intended to replace other performance measures such as Public Service Agreements, Service Delivery Agreements, or the balanced scorecard approach. Rather, it complements these other approaches. For example, while the Accenture Public Sector Value model answers the question, “Is this organization achieving its fundamental objectives?” other performance measures are still required to determine whether the organization is being well run. It does not set the standards of public service delivery, nor dictate the outcomes. Rather, it fills the long-standing gap of a standardized framework for assessing value creation in the public sector for the key stakeholder—the citizen.

Graeme Gordon, Partner, explains how the Accenture Public Sector Value model can be a tool for success in this Insight Article.

Read more about the Accenture Public Sector Value model in the current issue of Outlook, Accenture’s primary thought leadership publication. The article is titled Six Principles for High Performance in the Public Sector.

Read about our Public Sector Value Client Successes with the State of Indiana and State of Arizona.

Concept of quality - historical background

The concept of quality as we think of it now first emerged out of the Industrial Revolution. Previously goods had been made from start to finish by the same person or team of people, with handcrafting and tweaking the product to meet 'quality criteria'. Mass production brought huge teams of people together to work on specific stages of production where one person would not necessarily complete a product from start to finish. In the late 1800's pioneers such as Frederick Winslow Taylor and Henry Ford recognised the limitations of the methods being used in mass production at the time and the subsequent varying quality of output. Taylor established Quality Departments to oversee the quality of production and rectifying of errors, and Ford emphasised standardisation of design and component standards to ensure a standard product was produced. Management of quality was the responsibility of the Quality department and was implemented by Inspection of product output to 'catch defects.

Application of statistical control came later as a result of World War production methods. Quality management systems are the outgrowth of work done by W. Edwards Deming, a statistician, after whom the Deming Prize for quality is named.

Quality, as a profession and the managerial process associated with the quality function, was introduced during the second-half of the 20th century, and has evolved since then. No other profession has seen as many changes as the quality profession.

The quality profession grew from simple control, to engineering, to systems engineering. Quality control activities were predominant in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The 1970s were an era of quality engineering and the 1990s saw quality systems as an emerging field. Like medicine, accounting, and engineering, quality has achieved status as a recognized profession.

Quality management organizations and awards

The International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 series describes standards for a QMS addressing the processes surrounding the design, development and delivery of a general product or service. Organisations can participate in a continuing certification process to demonstrate their compliance with the standard.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is a competition to identify and recognize top-quality U.S. companies. This model addresses a broadly based range of quality criteria, including commercial success and corporate leadership. Once an organization has won the award it has to wait several years before being eligible to apply again.

The European Foundation for Quality Management's EFQM Excellence Model supports an award scheme similar to the Malcolm Baldrige Award for European companies.

In Canada, the National Quality Institute presents the 'Canada Awards for Excellence' on an annual basis to organisations that have displayed outstanding performance in the areas of Quality and Workplace Wellness, and have met the Institute's criteria with documented overall achievements and results.

The Alliance for Performance Excellence is a network of state, local, and international organizations that use the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria and model at the grassroots level to improve the performance of local organizations and economies. NetworkforExcellence.org is the Alliance web site; browsers can find Alliance members in their state and get the latest news and events from the Baldrige community.

Kelantan lancar pusat jualan ternakan

Atiff Idris Fri | Jul 27, 07 | 03:16:51 PM

PASIR MAS, 27 Julai (Hrkh) – Selepas berjaya melancarkan program penternakan kambing secara komersial jenis baka Jamnapari dan Boer, kini kerajaan negeri mewujudkan pula pusat jualan ternakan negeri. Pusat jualan tersebut terletak di kawasan tanah rezab haiwan di Kampung Repek dekat sini, diurus syarikat PK Ecoresort Sdn Bhd dengan pemantauan dan khidmat nasihat Jabatan Perkhidmatan Haiwan serta Fama. Perasmian pusat itu dilakukan Pengerusi Pertanian dan Industri Desa, Dr Nik Mazian Nik Mohamed semalam. Pada sebelah malamnya diadakan solat hajat di tapak pusat jualan tersebut. Dr Nik Mazian berkata, dengan adanya pusat jualan ternakan, kerja-kerja pemasaran akan menjadi lebih mudah memandangkan ia akan menjadi pusat tumpuan utama pembeli kambing jenis baka baik. Oleh itu beliau berharap penternak dan pengusaha yang ingin memasarkan kambing disaran memanfaatkan pusat tersebut. “Sebelum ini kerajaan negeri memperkenalkan program Jihad Ternak yang mana pusat penternakannya terletak di Rong Chenok dekat sini, bertujuan untuk mengembangkan baka kambing. “Dan pusat jualan pula diwujudkan sebagai salah satu tempat untuk peserta yang terbabit dengan program Jihad Ternak mendapat baka kambing yang terbaik,” ujarnya. Menurutnya pada masa akan datang Kelantan dijangka mampu mengeluarkan baka kambing jenis tempatan yang mungkin dikenali sebagai ‘kambing Kelantan’. Selain itu matlamat jangka panjang kerajaan negeri bagi menjadikan Kelantan sebagai ‘hub penternakan’. Jurucakap PK Ecoresort berkata, pihaknya terbabit dengan perniagaan ternakan sejak tahun 2000, melihat bidang tersebut mampu berkembang pesat pada masa akan datang. Turut hadir pada program itu Adun Kadok, Haji Mohd Shukri Abdul Rahman, Pengarah Jabatan Perkhidmatan Haiwan Kelantan, Dr Idris Kadir dan pegawai Kumpulan Pertanian Kelantan Berhad serta pengusaha-pengusaha ternakan kambing. - harakahdaily

Pengaruh sekular Turki kian lemah

Oleh AZRUL AZLAN ISKANDAR MIRZA

KEMENANGAN Parti Keadilan dan Pembangunan (AKP) Turki dalam pilihan raya Parlimen 22 Julai lalu membuktikan bahawa ideologi sekular semakin pupus di negara itu.

Keputusan awal kelmarin menyaksikan Parti AKP menang 47 peratus undi, iaitu peningkatan 12 peratus undi berbanding pilihan raya tahun 2002.

Kemenangan ini adalah sejarah buat Turki apabila AKP merupakan parti pemerintah pertama sejak 52 tahun yang berjaya menambahkan peratusan undi dalam pilihan raya Parlimen. AKP memenangi 341 daripada 550 kerusi Parlimen bagi membolehkan AKP membentuk kerajaan secara bersendirian.

Di dalam kempennya, Erdogan menjelaskan beliau akan meninggalkan AKP dan politik sekiranya AKP gagal mendapat mandat memerintah kerajaan secara bersendirian. Erdogan, 53, bercakap demikian ketika menyampaikan kempennya di barat daya negara itu beberapa hari sebelum proses pembuangan undi.

Penganalisis menyatakan bahawa kemenagan AKP dalam pilihan raya ini membuktikan kepercayaan rakyat terhadap kepimpinan dan karisma Erdogan, di samping kepercayaan rakyat terhadap perancangan dan pemulihan ekonomi Turki.

Ekonomi Turki sedang giat pulih dan mula mendapat kepercayaan pelabur sejak AKP memerintah tahun 2002. Peningkatan pelaburan kepada AS$400 juta sekarang daripada cuma AS$180 juta apabila mengambil alih kerajaan pada 2002 membuktikan komitmen Erdogan membangunkan semula ekonomi Turki.

Sekalipun Erdogan dikatakan pro-Islam, kemenangan beliau adalah berasaskan kepada kesungguhan pemulihan ekonomi dan pembangunan negara itu, selain faktor kecenderungan kepada kebebasan dan demokrasi tulen. Sebelum AKP memerintah, ekonomi Turki jatuh teruk dan berlakunya korupsi, rasuah dan penyelewengan.

Selain itu, usaha Turki di bawah kepimpinan Erdogan untuk menyertai Kesatuan Eropah turut menjadi faktor yang membawa kepada kepercayaan pelabur dan masyarakat tempatan. Sekalipun tipis, namun usaha Erdogan sangat dihargai rakyat Turki apabila bibit-bibit demokrasi mula kelihatan di negara itu. Hak-hak asasi seperti kebebasan beragama yang ditentang sekular telah mula kembali menapak dan ia kejayaan besar khususnya bagi mereka yang beragama Islam.

Kemenangan Erdogan kali kedua ini merupakan pukulan kuat buat pejuang sekular di Turki. Ia dapat dirasakan setelah pihak tentera dan prosekular mendesak mengadakan pilihan raya awal setelah berjaya menghalang pemilihan Parlimen bagi melantik Presiden Turki yang baru. Tekanan terhadap AKP mula dirasai apabila pencalonan Menteri Luar, Abdullah Gul oleh AKP sebagai Presiden Turki pada April lalu dibantah keras oleh tentera dan sekularis dan ditambah dengan tunjuk perasaan dan demonstrasi jalanan.

Strategi prosekular itu merupakan kesilapan besar buat mereka sendiri. Sedar dengan sokongan rakyat terhadap AKP, Erdogan tidak teragak-agak menyambut baik supaya diadakan pilihan raya Parlimen lebih awal.

Setelah menjangkakan tewas, pihak keselamatan diarahkan tentera untuk menangkap calon-calon bebas atas kepentingan pihak sekular Turki, bagi menghalang mana-mana kerjasama calon bebas dengan pihak AKP. Terdesak dengan sokongan rakyat terhadap AKP, prosekular dan tentera sanggup melakukan apa sahaja bagi mempertahankan kedudukan mereka.

Namun, Parti Rakyat Republikan (CHP) dan Parti Gerakan Nasionalis (MHP), parti-parti yang mendukung sekular, hanya mampu memperoleh 20 peratus dan 15 peratus sahaja daripada undian pilihan raya kelmarin.

Sebelum itu, isu pemakaian tudung di universiti awam telah menghangatkan politik Turki yang prosekular untuk menjatuhkan AKP. Menjawab isu tersebut, Erdogan melalui akhbar Anatolia di Turki menyatakan “Kami berharap untuk membenarkan semua wanita ke universiti (awam) dengan penuh kebebasan, sama ada memakai tudung atau tidak.”

Menurut beliau, hak wanita dan pelajar memakai tudung tidak harus menjadi isu yang dipolitikkan, tetapi ia adalah hak kebebasan individu.

Tuduhan Erdogan membawa ideologi Islam itu dikuatkan dengan pemakaian tudung oleh isteri dan anaknya. Ia sangat ditakuti oleh pihak tentera dan sekular kerana menganggap tudung adalah ancaman kepada sistem sekular di negara yang majoritinya penduduk Islam itu.

* AZRUL AZLAN ISKANDAR MIRZA Fakulti Ekonomi & Muamalat Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.

Sistem urus sisa pepejal

Oleh LATIFAH ABD. MANAF

Berita pembatalan projek insinerator di Broga baru-baru ini mengejutkan masyarakat. Projek insinerator berteknologi gasifikasi dan peleburan abu yang berharga RM1.5 bilion di tapak seluas 265 hektar itu sepatutnya beroperasi bagi menangani 1,500 tan sisa pepejal perbandaran dari kawasan Lembah Klang.

Walau bagaimanapun belum sempat beroperasi, projek tersebut telah ditamatkan dan kerajaan terpaksa menanggung kos pembiayaannya.

Projek insinerator di Broga bukan kali pertama kita melakukan kesilapan dalam memilih teknologi pengurusan sisa pepejal yang efektif untuk Malaysia. Sebelum ini pun, beberapa projek insinerator telah cuba dilaksanakan di negara ini tetapi gagal berfungsi sepenuhnya. Sebagai contoh, tujuh loji insinerator telah dibangunkan dengan kos RM17 juta di beberapa pulau peranginan seperti Langkawi, Pangkor, Tioman dan Labuan tetapi gagal berfungsi kerana kapasitinya yang kecil tidak dapat menampung amaun sisa yang banyak.

Selain insinerator, kerajaan juga telah cuba mempromosikan teknologi kitar semula bagi menguruskan sisa pepejal yang kian meningkat kadar penjanaannya. Kempen kitar semula buat pertama kalinya telah dilancarkan pada 1993 di 23 buah kerajaan tempatan tetapi kurang mendapat sambutan daripada orang ramai dan pengilang. Bagaimanapun ada beberapa kerajaan tempatan yang berjaya melaksanakan kempen tersebut seperti Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya, Majlis Perbandaran Melaka dan Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara.

Pada 2 Disember 2000, Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan telah melancarkan semula kempen kitar semula fasa kedua. Tarikh 11 November, setiap tahun telah diisytiharkan sebagai Hari Kitar Semula Kebangsaan. Namun setelah hampir tujuh tahun fasa kedua kempen dilancarkan, hasilnya masih belum dapat dibanggakan.

Peratus perolehan semula bahan kitar masih rendah, jauh daripada angka yang disasarkan. Masih banyak tong kitar semula yang disediakan belum berfungsi secara sepenuhnya. Masyarakat pula masih belum terdidik sepenuhnya betapa kitar semula dapat menyumbang kepada pemeliharaan sumber semula jadi serta menjamin alam sekitar yang bersih dan selamat untuk dihuni.

Pada masa ini operasi pengurusan sisa pepejal hanya menekankan kepada proses pungutan dari tapak penjanaan termasuk kawasan perumahan, institusi, perdagangan dan industri dan seterusnya dihantar ke tapak pelupusan. Terdapat 155 buah tapak pelupusan di seluruh negara yang dikendalikan oleh kerajaan tempatan dengan keluasan di antara 8 hingga 60 hektar, bergantung kepada lokasi dan amaun sisa yang dilupuskan. Kebanyakan tapak pelupusan ini beroperasi secara pembuangan terbuka.

Pelupusan

Rancangan Tindakan 1988 telah dibangunkan bagi meningkatkan tahap keberkesanan tapak pelupusan. Oleh kerana faktor kewangan dan kepakaran teknikal yang terhad, Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan merancang untuk meningkatkan tahap keberkesanan tapak pelupusan daripada operasi secara pembuangan terbuka kepada kambusan sanitari secara berperingkat.

Empat tahap pembaikan yang disasarkan adalah Tahap 1: Pembuangan terkawal. Tahap 2: Kambusan sanitari dengan ban dan lapisan penutup harian. Tahap 3: Kambusan sanitari dengan peredaran cecair kurasan, dan Tahap 4: Kambusan sanitari dengan rawatan cecair kurasan.

Bagaimanapun tahap pembaikan tapak pelupusan masih belum mencapai objektif yang disasarkan yang mana pembuangan terbuka masih lagi berleluasa.

Jabatan Kerajaan Tempatan, Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan (KPKT) serta, Jabatan Perkhidmatan Kejuruteraan, Kementerian Kesihatan merupakan dua badan yang bertanggungjawab menguruskan sisa pepejal pada peringkat persekutuan.

KPKT bertanggungjawab dalam merangka dan melaksanakan polisi kerajaan tempatan yang seragam dan moden untuk seluruh Malaysia, manakala Kementerian Kesihatan bertanggungjawab dalam melaksanakan dan memantau Program Kebersihan Sekitaran Kebangsaan.

Terdapat 145 buah kerajaan tempatan di Malaysia dengan pelbagai tahap keupayaan dalam menyediakan perkhidmatan perbandaran kepada orang awam. Daripada peruntukan yang diterima saban tahun, kerajaan tempatan telah membelanjakan 40-70 peratus untuk menguruskan sisa pepejal perbandaran, namun perkhidmatannya masih kurang berkesan untuk kebanyakan kawasan terutamanya dari segi aktiviti pungutan sisa pepejal.

Pada tahun 1996, pengurusan sisa pepejal telah diswastakan. Walaupun kerajaan tempatan mempunyai tenaga kerja dan peralatan yang banyak, tetapi faktor kewangan menjadi penghalang utama.

Di bawah program penswastaan yang dirancangkan, empat konsortium telah dilantik dan dibahagikan zon masing-masing: Alam Flora Sdn. Bhd. (meliputi Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu dan Kelantan), Nothern Waste Sdn. Bhd. telah diambil alih oleh Idaman Bersih Sdn. Bhd. (meliputi Perak, Kedah, Pulau Pinang dan Perlis), Southern Waste Management Sdn. Bhd. (meliputi Johor, Negeri Sembilan dan Melaka), dan Eastern Waste Management (meliputi Sabah, Sarawak dan Labuan).

Bagaimanapun dasar penswastaan ini masih belum menampakkan hasil yang positif di mana sistem pengurusan sisa pepejal di Malaysia masih lagi tidak cekap dan tidak diuruskan dengan sempurna.

Membangunkan dan melaksanakan sistem pengurusan sisa pepejal perlu melibatkan gabungan teknologi yang sesuai dengan keadaan dan undang-undang tempatan. Oleh kerana pengurusan sisa pepejal merupakan suatu masalah yang kompleks, pendekatan bersepadu perlu diguna pakai.

Pendekatan bersepadu yang dimaksudkan adalah kita perlu mengambil kira kesemua elemen pengurusan sisa pepejal bermula dari tapak penjanaan sehinggalah ia dilupuskan. Ciri dan komposisi sisa perlu difahami dalam proses pemilihan teknologi pengurusan bagi mencapai objektif yang disasarkan.

Kekurangan maklumat sisa pepejal, kelemahan penguatkuasaan, kekurangan kesedaran awam dan kakitangan terlatih boleh menjadi punca kegagalan.

Pemilihan teknologi pengurusan sisa pepejal merupakan masalah membuat keputusan pelbagai kriteria yang melibatkan penilaian subjektif. Proses pemilihan sukar dilakukan kerana ia berada dalam lingkungan sumber yang terhad. Kerumitan proses ini semakin bertambah apabila melibatkan isu sosial dan sekitaran serta masalah pembiayaan projek.

Kesesuaian teknologi menentukan kejayaan program pengurusan sisa pepejal dan ia perlu dipertimbangkan pada peringkat awal perancangan. Kesesuaian teknologi tidak hanya merujuk kepada operasi dan kos mesin yang diimport dari negara maju, tetapi juga merujuk kepada kesesuaian gabungan teknologi. Teknologi yang diterima pakai dari negara maju tidak semestinya efektif untuk negara kita tetapi perlu diubah suai mengikut keadaan tempatan.

* DR. LATIFAH ABD MANAF ialah Pensyarah Jabatan Sains Alam Sekitar, Fakulti Pengajian Alam Sekitar, Universiti Putra Malaysia.

Turkey's ruling party wins election

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer 33 minutes ago

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's Islamic-rooted ruling party won parliamentary elections by a wide margin Sunday, and the prime minister pledged to safeguard the country's secular traditions and do whatever the government deems necessary to fight separatist Kurdish rebels.

With more than 99 percent of votes counted, television news channels were projecting that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party would win 341 of the 550 seats, down from 351 in the outgoing parliament.

Erdogan, a devout Muslim, told supporters in his victory speech that he would preserve pluralistic democracy and work for national unity.

"We will never make concessions over the values of people, the basic principles of our republic. This is our promise. We will embrace Turkey as a whole without discriminating," he said at a rally in the capital, Ankara.

Ruling party supporters clapped, danced and waved flags depicting the party symbol, a light bulb, outside the party's office in Istanbul. In Ankara, hundreds whooped as they watched election results on a big TV screen set up outside party headquarters.

"We are very happy," university student Reyhan Aksoy said. "God willing, great days await us."

The election was called early to defuse a showdown with the military-backed, secular establishment, which contended that Erdogan and his allies were plotting to scrap Turkey's secular traditions despite their openness to the West.

Erdogan raised concern with his efforts as prime minister to make adultery a crime and appoint former Islamists to key positions. Critics also were troubled by his calls for the lifting of restrictions on the wearing of Islamic headscarves.

Many government opponents constitute a traditional elite that has roots in state institutions such as the courts and the military — guardians of the secular legacy of national founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. But they have more of an authoritarian background and less of a reformist record than the government.

Although the ruling party's success has been touted as proof that Islam and democracy can coexist, the new government is likely to face persistent tension over the role of Islam in society.

"Democracy has passed a very important test," Erdogan said. "Whoever you have voted for ... We respect your choices. We regard your differences as part of our pluralist democracy. It is our responsibility to safeguard this richness."

The government also will have to decide how to deal with violence by Kurdish rebels seeking autonomy. NATO member Turkey is considering whether to stage an offensive into northern Iraq against separatist Kurdish rebels who rest, train and resupply at bases there.

Erdogan has warned the incursion could happen if security talks with Iraq and the U.S. fail. He has invited Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to visit Turkey.

"In our struggle against separatist terrorists, we are determined to take every step at the right time," Erdogan said of the conflict with the Kurds.

The commander of Iraq-based Kurdish rebels told The Associated Press in an interview that he believes Turkey will quickly follow the elections with a long-anticipated offensive against his remote mountain bases.

Murat Karayilan, the leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, warned that his fighters were prepared for battle, but denied Ankara's charges that his group was using Iraqi soil to launch attacks against Turkish forces across the border. He was speaking on Friday.

Turkey has made big strides after the economic and political chaos of past decades, but some feared the vote could deepen divisions in the mostly Muslim nation of 70 million.

The country has an emboldened class of devout Muslims, led by a ruling party willing to pursue Western-style reforms to strengthen the economy and join the European Union. Under Erdogan inflation has dropped, foreign investment has increased, and the economy has grown at an annual average of 7 percent.

The success of the ruling party signaled continuity in economic reforms and in Turkey's troubled efforts to join the European Union.

"We will press ahead with reforms and the economic development that we have been following so far," Erdogan said in his victory speech.

One of Parliament's first jobs will be to elect a president. The post is largely ceremonial, but the incumbent has the power to veto legislative bills and government appointments.

In May, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul abandoned his presidential bid after opponents said Gul's election would remove the last obstacle to an Islamic takeover of government and the military — instigator of past coups — threatened to intervene to safeguard secularism.

Though the ruling party emerged from the vote with a smaller majority than in 2002 elections, its officials expressed surprise with how well they did given the current atmosphere of tension with the secularists.

Two secular parties, the Republican People's Party and the Nationalist Action Party, won 112 seats and 70 seats, respectively, the television stations said.

Politicians backed by a Kurdish party that seeks more rights for the ethnic minority returned to Turkey's Parliament for the first time in more than a decade. The Democratic Society Party, or DTP, won 24 seats in the 550-seat Parliament, according to CNN-Turk television.

The party's candidates ran as independents to circumvent a 10 percent vote threshold required to win representation in Parliament. The Kurdish politicians were expected to regroup under the party banner when the new Parliament convenes.

Many people cut short vacations to head home to cast their ballots, and lines at some polling stations were long. In Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city, police stood guard outside schools serving as polling stations.

Fourteen parties and 700 independent candidates competed for a total of 42.5 million eligible voters. Voting is compulsory in Turkey, though fines for failing to vote are rarely imposed, and 2002 election turnout was 79 percent.

Turnout was more than 80 percent, and voting was largely peaceful, election officials said.

Parties must win at least 10 percent of the votes in order to be represented in Parliament, a high threshold that has drawn some criticism as being undemocratic.

TV stations said that, with nearly all the votes counted, the ruling party had won 46.7 percent, even though it won a bigger percentage of seats at the expense of small parties that failed to clear the threshold.

WPI akan jadi wilayah kedua Singapura?

Oleh: Abdul Aziz Ismail

Sejak beberapa minggu yang lalu, saya berke­sempatan menonton iklan promosL Wilayah Pem­bangunan Iskandar (WPI)
di saluran TV Channel NewsAsia (CNA), terbitan Singapura yang di­tay1mgkan berulangkali dalam sehari yang mungkin bertujuan mengajak pelabur Singapura dan asin'g yang ~ berpengkalan di Singapura supaya menyertai projek raksaksa itu.
Dalam iklanpromo itu, PM Ab­dullah Badawi memberi pandangan secara serius dan terbuka bahawa dari segi geografi, kawasan selatan Johor dan Singapura adalah wilayah strategik yang sudah sedia terbentuk menjadi hab untuk dimaju dan di­jadikan pusat pertumbuhan ekonomi yang paling berpotensi bagi rantau Asia Tenggara.
Kata beliau, kedua wilayah itu boleh mencapai kemajuan seperti Hong Kong dan wilayah Shenzen di selatan Cina.
Seorang penganalisis Bank terke­muka CIMB yang berpusat di KL telah menyebut jika wilayah itu dibangunkan dengan pesat ia boleh menjadi wilayah kedua Singapura di mana republik itu boleh mengem­bangkan sayap ekonominya dalam banyak sektor seperti penyelidikan perubatan, pendidikan, perindustri­an, pengilangan, pelancongan dan kewangan.
Singapura boleh mengalib dan memindahkan (relocate) ke­banyakan aktiviti ekonominya yang berkos tinggi ke WPI kerana berba­gai insentif luarbiasa yang ditawarkan dan kos pengendalian yang murah.
Projek raksaksa yang diang­garkan mengambil masa selama 20 tahun untuk siap sepenuhnya dijang­ka mengundang pelaburan berjum­lah USD 100 billion dari serata dunia.
Dan berdasarkan maklumat yang disebar luas di selatan tanahair, hampir 40 peratus dari tapak kilang, bangunan . industri dan komersial serta tapak rumah kediaman, teruta­ma di bandar baru Nusajaya, telah dibeli oleh pelabur-pelabur dari Sin­gapura.
Sebahagian besar lagi baki haratanah itu dibeli oleh warga kita bukan Bumiputera. Soalnya, berapa peratuskah yang sudah dimilikki oleh Bumiputra atau syarikat Bu­miputra Johor terutamanya di kawasan strategik yang dikatakan akan menjadi pusat pentadbiran baru kerajaan negeri Johor?
Dengan pakej Insentif & Sokon­gan (Insentive & Support Package ­CISP) yang terlalu mewah ditawarkan kerajaan kepada pelabur­peabur asing khususnya dari Singa­pura bolehlah dijangkakan akan hanyak hartanah milik kita yang akan jatuh ke tangan warga asing.
Apatah lagi dengan kadar nilai wang dollar Singapura (SD) atau dollar Amerika (US D) yang tinggi dibandingan nilai wang kita, ini bermakna pelabur-pelabur asing telah membeli dengan harga poton­gan 50 hingga 70 peratus dari harga sebenar hartanah itu mengikut nilai wang mereka.
Ada kebenaran juga kritikan keras dan rungutan yang dilontarkan oleh bekas PM Dr Mahathir, Tengkau Razaleigh dan pem­bangkang bahawa kebanyakan orang Melayu Johor yang terjejas di kawasan WPI itu akan terusir keluar dari kawasan pembangunaan itu ker­ana tidak mampu memilkki hartanah di situ.
Dengan perkataan mudah, anak jati Johor mungkin akan dihambat keluar dari daerah pesat membangun WPI sementara orang asing teruta­ma orang Singapura dan warga tem­patan bukan Bumiputra hidup mewah di bangunan dan kondominium indah, cantik dan tersergam di tanah yang asalnya kepunyaan orang Melayu.
Apakah maksud peribahasa lama kita akan berulang; anak cucu sendiri kelaparan (kesusahan), kera liar di hutan (orang luar), disusukan!
Apakah ini harga pembangunan yang harus dibayar oleh anak jati Johor yang sekian lama sejak dari zaman datuk nenek mereka dulu pernah mendiami kawasan itu? Adakah mereka dibayar pampasan yang sewajarnya di atas pengambilan tanah-tanah mereka itu?
Setakat ini berapakah jumlah syarikat tempatan, terutama bumiputra yang sudah menempah tanah dan tapak di WPI? Bagaimana dengan partisipasi kaum peniaga Bumiputra Johor di daerah itu ­adakah nasib mereka terbela, diberi hak istimewa dan peluang yang setimpal? Janganlah kerana hendak mengejar sangat kemajuan dan matlamat projek yang sudah dirancang itu hingga kita lupa batas-batas hak, wilayah dan kedaulatan bangsa dan tanah milik kita.
Kerajaan harus berwaspada, apa­bila hartanah milik kita telah ter­lepas kepada pihak asing amatlah sukar bagi kita mendapatkannya semula apatah lagi berhadapan den­gan kerenah pemerintah Singapura yang terkenal dengan sikap mahu menang selalu dan tidak mahu kalah (kiasu).
Kerajaan hendaklah berhati-hati dalam menderaf dan membuat berbagai perjanjian, peraturan atau insentif, jangan sampai melukakan hati rakyat dan menjejas kepentin­gan masa depan negara semata-mata mahu mengejar masa bagi mereal­isasikan projek besar itu.
Biarlah kita lambat sedikit dan tidak terburu-buru kerana ditakuti jika salah perhitungan dan terlepas pandang pada isu-isu yang sig­nifikan dan sensitif, akan membawa penyesalan yang tidak terhingga hingga ke anak cucu.
Apakah erti kemajuan dan pem­bangunan jika ia hanya dinikmati dan dipunyai oleh sebahagian besar orang luar yang memang berduit,' tetapi anak bangsa sendiri terlempar' jauh ke luar kota kerana mereka tidak mampu memiliki?
Adakah kerajaan sudah merencana satu plan konkrit yang kompre­hensif bagaimana menyertakan sama pembangunan ekonomi pesat di daerah itu dengan partisipasi hebat dan tinggi dari kaum Bumipu­tra terutamanya orang Johor?
Penubuhan Jawatankuasa Khas Peringkat Menteri antara Malaysia dengan Singapura dikatakan akan menyelesaikan masalah keluar masuk di antara kedua buah negara melalui pengenalan kad pintar di s­amping perundingan mengadakan teksi air dan berbagai pakej pelan­congan.
Dengan istilah lain, kerajaan kita akan bekerja rapat dan aktif dengan Singapura untuk memudahkan ke­lancaran dan perlaksanaan projek WPI. Tetapi kita hairan, mengapa tidak kerajaan mengadakan syarat meminta pemerintah Singapura meneruskan pembinaan semula Jam­batan Bengkok atau Lurus bagi memudahkan lagi urusan keluar masuk penduduk, pelabur dan pen­gankutan bagi melicinkan kejayaan pembanguanan wilayah itu.
Tambak Johor yang sedia ada sekarang sempit dan selalu sesak terutama di waktu puncak, tidak akan mampu menampung penambahan kesesakan harian akibat dari pembangunan pesat dan kemasukan besar-besaran pelabur dan penduduk asing serta pengangkutan umum yang terlibat dalam projek di WPI. Adalah munasabah dan memang sudah tiba waktunya pembinaan jambatan baru yang canggih dan moden seperti yang diimpikan ker­jaaan dulu direalisasikan segera demi mempercepat kelancaran pem­bangunan di WPI.
Bukan saja majoriti rakyat Johor yang nampak keperluan terdesak jambatan baru mengggantikan tam­bak Johor, malah Baginda Sultan Iskandar Johor juga telah nampak keperluan segera jambatan baru itu ketika mula-mula dilancarkan WPI di Teluk Danga dua tahun dulu.
Baginda Sultan dengan nada kesal dan gembira bertitah supaya dirobohkan saja tambak Johor dan digantikan dengan jambatan baru bagi memudahkan lagi urusan ke­majuan pembangunan Johor secara keseluruhan termasuk WPI.
Mengapa PM Abdullah tidak cuba memujuk PM Lee'melak­sanakan idea itu sebagai 'hadiah' kerjasama erat dan istimewa dalam menjayakan bersama WPI di mana Singapura sudah dianggap rakan kongsi utama dan negara istimewa yang akan menjayakan projek rak­saksa itu.
Jika PM Abdullah berjaya memu­juk Singapura supaya menukar fIki­ran dengan bersetuju membina semu­la jambatan bengkok atau lurus, saya kira ini boleh dianggap kejayaan amat besar dan tidak temilai bagi Ab­dullah sebagai Perdana Menteri.
Dalam suasana Singapura sangat bersedia memajukan bersama projek WPI, apa salahnya kita membuka semula idea itu yang sebenarnya boleh memberi faedah besar dan ke­untungan dalam jangka waktu pan­jang yang perlu diakui secara jujur dan insaf oleh pemerintah Singapura sama ada mereka mengakuinya atau menidakkannya.
Mengapa tidak Singapura melupakan syarat 'berat' dan 'rumit' yang telah dikenakan kepada kera­jaan kita dulu ketika mahu meneruskan pembinaan jambatan lurus.
Sebenarnya mereka boleh dipu­juk melupakan permintaan terhadap pengunaan ruang udara dan pen­jualan pasir dari negara kita. Mereka tidak perlu mengenakan 'permintaan besar' yang sesungguhnya sukar di­tunaikankerana kerajaan sekarang yang dipimpin PM Abdullah telah pun memberi ruang yang luas terbu­ka dengan insentif dan layanan istiemewa yang luarbiasa kepada pe­merintah dan syarikat swastanya dalam projek WPI.
Apa salahnya kerajaan dibawah pimpinan PM Abdullah yang disebut rapat dengan pucuk pimpinan Singa­pura menggunakan isu jambatan itu sebagai salah satu syarat tolak ansur yang perlu dikenakan kerana partisi­pasi mereka yang bermakna dan besar dalam projek WPI?
Banyak sudah dipertikai soal sikap kerajaan kita yang dikatakan terlalu berlembut dengan kerenah pemerintah Singapura yang lazim­nya 'menekan' dan mengenakan syarat yang bukan-bukan terhadap apa jua yang kita minta.
Dan sudah sampai masanya pula kita mengenakan permintaan 'besar' terhadap mereka jika mereka serius dan menganggap hubungan persaha­batan antara kedua negara memer­lukan 'pengorbanan' besar, tolak ansur dan sikap jujur yang mendalam terhadap kehendak masing-masing,
Lagi pun dengan sikap terbuka dan mesra yang telah ditunjukkan PM Abdullah dalam merealisasikan impiannya dalam projek WPI bersama rakannya PM Lee, rakyat sangat berharap Abdullah dapat me­nunjukkan sikap berani dan bijak­sana bagi menonjolkan kehendak kita itu supaya kedua-dua buah ne­gara sama-sama menang, menikmati kemajuan dan kepuasan bersama tanpa salah satu pihak merasa kalah atau dikecewakan. - Suara Keadilan