KUALA LUMPUR – The Selangor environment exco has sidestepped questions on the state government’s decision to fork out RM2 million to lease four drones to monitor rivers in a bid to combat pollution.
Hee Loy Sian told The Vibes today that the matter is being handled by the state’s water management body.
“Sorry, I can’t reveal further. Everything is proposed by the Selangor Water Management Authority,” he said when asked about the company providing the drones and whether it was selected via open tender or direct negotiations.
The drones’ price tag has triggered outrage among netizens, among them Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The former prime minister, in a Facebook post, said: “The Selangor government is buying four drones to monitor rivers. The total cost is RM2 million. One is RM500,000.”
Checks by The Vibes found that the DJI Matrice 300 model ranges between US$6,500 and US$10,000 (RM27,000 and RM41,500), while the older Matrice 200 model is available for RM28,000 on online shopping platform Lazada.
Hee said RM2 million is not just for leasing the drones and having them operate for a period of one year.
“It’s also to cover the salaries of a number of workers, including engineers tasked with monitoring, 24-hour testing of water samples, maintenance, computers, and licensing for the necessary software.”
Water supply disruption due to river pollution is a long-running problem in Selangor, which saw the latest such incident just yesterday. – The Vibes, October 20, 2020
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