Haven’t we learnt our lessons yet?

I WOULD like to comment on a recent discovery I made while going through Pelita Brunei’s Tawaran Section.

I came across a requirement to supply 30,000 metric tonnes of calcium carbonate for water treatment to be supplied to water treatment facilities, for the second time if I might add, which had me thinking. If we take an average cost of US$80 per metric tonne for the product, that would be a staggering USD2.4 million.

No wonder budgets keep rising.

For that amount, wouldn’t it be logical to invest in some sort of recovery system for the product, instead of purchasing over and over again? Or at the very least cut down cost?

I browsed the Internet and found a dozen methods for such recovery.

Sure the initial cost might be high but it will pay for itself in savings.

Considerable savings could be made to the Government coffers if persons in charge or relevant parties took the initiative to at least consider the possibilities especially with the consultancy craze in full swing. That is, if one decides to take the easy route in that.

It’s a classic case of complacency and non-accountability that has led to numerous follies past and present.

Have we really not learned anything from it? It is hard to imagine that in this digital age that one would fail to take advantage of opportunities abound in cost saving methods and such.

Or is it that excuse of ‘nda pemandai computer’ that is holding all of this back?

It is time to think seriously, constructively and re-strategise, if we are to rise above this quagmire, lest we all suffer for the follies of the few.

- Eye Spy With My Two Little Eyes