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Thursday, January 19, 2012

SSG – A promise is a promise!




Related previous post
Mac12, 2010 – Local council elections-politics of empowerment
Oct 11, 2010 – SSG, local council and residents
June 24, 2011 – Local council … never ending saga!
The above 3 post basically translate my thoughts about the issues of local government election. It is a 2008 election pledge that PR had side stepped, skirted and blatantly lie to the people in Selangor. While I acknowledge their handicapped in doing the election in view of the LG Act (ACT 171) but there is nothing stopping them from nominating people that has been elected by residents to represent them in the local government. Instead they chose to continue the old BN tradition where political nominees and PR aligned NGO are being appointed. Despite their hatred towards BN, they have no shame in following what BN does. For the record the LG Election is one of the reasons that made me convinced my whole family and sister and brother in-laws to vote for PR in 2008. It is sad to see that supporters of PR did not demand this sacred election promises. While they had demanded a lot of things from BN, they have been utterly silent about the election promises made by their idols. I quote the Holy Quran, Surah al-Anfāl verse 8:55-56 where it says; “Surely the vilest of animals in Allah’s sight are those who disbelieve, then they would not believe. Those with whom you make an agreement, then they break their agreement every time and they do not guard (against punishment).” I am certain keeping one promises is an important element in every religion on earth.

I am disappointed with the SSG on this matter. The most basic element of people empowerment is being ignored. In MPAJ we have all sorts of political nominees who take turns to sit on the council. The backgrounds of the councilors are far from satisfactory and do not meet the sacred component of the Act. They have not been able to use their position in the council effectively to ensure the best interests of the residents are protected. They have not come forward and push for new policy development and get it enforced by the authorities. Instead they merely function as rubber stamps of whatever is being presented at the council meeting.

Section 10 of ACT 171 says; “
10. Councilors
 (1) The local authority shall consist of—
(a) The Mayor or President; and
(b) Not less than eight and not more than twenty-four other Councilors, to be appointed by the State Authority.
(2) Councilors of the local authority shall be appointed from amongst persons the majority of whom shall be persons ordinarily resident in the local authority area who in the opinion of the State Authority have wide experience in local government affairs or who have achieved distinction in any profession, commerce or industry, or are otherwise capable of representing the interests of their communities in the local authority area.
I encourages all residents in Selangor to study the background of the existing councillors and they will be surprised on the findings. For those that is unaware, the term of councillors has been extended for another month as the SSG could not make up their mind on who should be a councillor in 2012/13.
 I envy MBPJ for having  several knowledgeable and eloquent local council members.  They are very knowledgeable of the ACT and are able to control the council and the decision making process. It was in MBPJ, the billboard standardization and policy first came out. It was later endorsed and to be applied in the whole of Selangor. Did it happen? I can say confidently that it happened in PJ partly but not at all in Ampang. Ampang is filled with all sorts of billboards and yet the local authorities earn pittance from this lucrative business. They complain of shortage of funds and are not able to meet their obligation to the ratepayers. Despite that they chose to close their eyes on one lucrative source of revenue where it can be used to mitigate any increase in quit rent. Based on experience of a councilor from MBPJ, enforcing this policy has been difficult because councilors are weak as well as the billboard owners had invested in the councilors.
 The onus is on us, the people who voted PR into government to demand that they do what they had promised us.  Should we maintain them for the hatred towards BN when they have not done what they had promised? We cannot simply close one eye on the promises made. A popular Malay proverb says this aptly; “Lembu di pegang pada tali dan manusia dipegang pada janjinya”

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