More than $120,000 in state-of-the-art computer equipment issued to Fairfield Councillors has been gathering dust for almost nine months according to Cr Thang Ngo.

This term, all councillors were issued with expensive Toshiba DVD laptops that had high-resolution displays so they could access business papers via computer instead of reams of paper.

However, due to a Y2K problem, the system has not functioned since the beginning of the year. And Cr Ngo’s repeated questions to staff on when it will be fixed have not yielded any satisfactory answers.

"I was told March, then April and then June. I stopped asking after that." said Cr Ngo.

Cr Ngo conservatively estimates the cost of the laptops and associated software to be around $8,000 each, or in total around $120,000 for the 15 councillors in Fairfield.

This does not take into account the additional cost of printing business papers on physical paper and the detrimental effects on the environment.

"We’re talking about taxpayers money, and a lot of it at that, Council has a responsibility to use it efficiently and effectively" he said.

"Council’s mission is to make our Fairfield a clean, GREEN and safe city, I don’t want it to be just empty words".

During this week’s Council meeting, Cr Ngo called for an urgent report on this matter.