PONTIAN: Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the Cabinet had approved for Pengerang, a town in eastern Johor, to be upgraded as a municipal council, as early as May.
In denying that the announcement was made in conjunction with the Tanjung Piai by-election, Zuraida said the Cabinet had agreed in May to upgrade Pengerang’s local council status to municipal council.
“It had been approved in principle. We were just finalising on the number of residents, whether there are more than 150,000 residents living within the council area.
“They have achieved the number and also collected over RM20 million in taxes,” she said in response to criticisms that the government was making such announcements to fish for votes.
Opposition leaders and electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 had criticised Pakatan Harapan ministers and Menteri Besar Dr Sahruddin Jamal for announcing projects and handling out allocations during the by-election campaign.
MCA president Wee Ka Siong had said that Barisan Nasional’s biggest challenge in the by-election came from the federal government and that PH had put in a “large sum of money” in trying to retain the seat.
Opposition Leader Ismail Sabri Yaakob also said the series of announcements were deemed “vote buying”, while former prime minister Najib Razak listed several projects amounting to RM7.3 million he said were allocated to Tanjung Piai.
Speaking after meeting with village heads in Pengerang today, Zuraida also said that Pengerang would be turned into a smart city model for the country.
“I explained to the village heads that the smart city concept can be applied to villages if the technology devices that they want to bring into the area adhere to the smart city’s framework,” she said.
She also said the government was planning to upgrade the Pasir Gudang municipal council to city council status. - FMT
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