The Miri City Council (MCC) in Sarawak, Malaysia plans to set up bill payment kiosks throughout the area.
According to The Star, Mayor Lawrence Lai said the kiosks would help overcome congestion faced at the only one-stop service center the public uses to pay overdue parking fees or other council services.
"We have already submitted a proposal on the plan to the ministry and we are expecting a response soon," he said.
He said a group of Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) officers had already set up similar payment kiosks 10 years ago within its jurisdiction and that they have proven to be efficient.
Meanwhile, the sharing of knowledge and experience between MCC and DBKU has made the former more effective in serving the public.
"DBKU has undergone more than 20 years of hard work to become the modern capital city that it is today. Its well-planned management has earned DBKU the first prize in the Chief Minister's Quality Award."
According to Lai, the cooperation between the councils included a study tour of Kuching by MCC officials to learn about its sewage and computerized parking systems which would be implemented there soon.
The parking system would centralize the payment of fees, overtime parking fees and compound fees and would be linked to a main server to speed up payments and save costs, he said.
"Once the system is implemented, the parking booths will function as fee collection points and the public can make payments without being caught in traffic," Lai said.
