I visited my hometown Seremban over the previous long weekend and after much observation and reflection, I felt compelled to make the following commentary. The town is in a state of total disgrace. It is no wonder that Seremban has long been the forgotten town of the west coast. People talk about Johor, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang. But Seremban is conveniently passed over.

A drive along Seremban will reveal the following: Numerous abandoned shopping centres and office towers dot the landscape. These are damning testimony not only to the idiocy of the local zoning authorities but also to the greed of local developers who undertake projects without carefully studying the commercial reality of Seremban town. These dinosaurs of the pre-1998 economic crisis, are real eyesores. The town is rundown, tired-looking, dilapidated and depressing.

The condition of the public roads in Seremban is atrocious. Jln Lobak which leads to Jln Tun Dr Ismail (formerly Jln Templer) is a prime example. It would make even the most hardened and skilled Paris-Dakar rally driver quiver in fear as they swerve to avoid and negotiate the numerous potholes that fill the road.

Consider also, the two gigantic ponds that sit in the middle of the town centre. Should there ever be a water crisis again, Seremban would have nothing to fear as the authorities would already have two mosquito-infested reservoirs to draw upon. Perhaps the next SEA games venue can be changed to fully utilise these 'facilities'?

The town is rubbish-strewn, its drains clogged. Residential areas experience constant interruptions in water supply.

Public lights are available but hardly lit because many of them do not work.

Parking is haphazard. Road works are started but almost never finished satisfactorily and on time.

Public safety is never the priority but absolute contempt for public convenience is. Take the new Labu road for example. Work started almost two years ago but till today, the people have no new road to enjoy, but instead are faced with car alignment problems after traversing the pebble-filled 'road'. One prays that Seremban never has the need for a major expressway to service the town - there would be absolute mayhem. It is probably the next generation who will be to able to experience traffic-free travel.

One assumes that road works at the busy intersection in Jln Lobak near the old Borneo Motors is to do with river deepening, but the manner in which it is carried out borders on the criminal. What is already an accident-prone intersection is made more dangerous by the way the contractor has brazenly left debris around. There are no warning lights or signs - only an aggressive-looking bulldozer proudly blocking off three quarters of the road. Why does the municipal council allow this?

And consider the intersection between Taman AST and Taman Permai. One prominent local hotel has decided to sponsor beautifying works there. It is an abject waste of money. Not only is it aesthetically poor, it has no practical value and function at all. Park benches on a busy and polluted intersection? What does the hotel hope for the people to appreciate from that 'vantage' point? The polluted exhaust fumes of the Seremban town bus service?

There are other more worthy and worthwhile initiatives, like restoring the various colonial and pre-war buildings around town or beautifying the town centre with flowers and decorative ornaments or sponsoring a local charity or community centre.

The call for publicly-elected councillors cannot be stronger in the light of these galling public disservice.

The Seremban people must also share the blame for it is their apathy and easy-going nature that has allowed such deterioration to happen. We are mired in this malady because no one stands up against such inefficiency. Collectively we can do more. Such inept town councillors and their blatant disregard for the rate-paying public should not, and cannot be accepted.

In an era where public officials are being made to be more accountable to the citizens, it is hope that the local Seremban Municipal Council will start polishing up their act because if not, they are most certainly prime contenders for the worst-performing municipal in the country. That's hardly something to be proud of, don't you think?