Experience was the name of the game as 20 out of 24 councillors were retained by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and sworn in to serve the 2021-2022 term at its headquarters on Monday.
Four new faces were sworn in before Petaling Jaya Mayor Mohd Sayuthi Bakar including DAP's Nalina Nair and Medaline Chang She-Yun, as well as PKR duo Norah Mansor and lawyer Bryan Ng Yih Miin.
Veteran councillor Derek Fernandez was among those retained alongside G Suriase, Ahmad Akhir Pawan Chik, Terence Tan, Louis Uding and Norzahirul Anuar.
Bukit Gasing assemblyperson Rajiv Rishyakaran said he was looking forward to working with the new councillors.
"Nalina and Chang are strong leaders and I'm looking forward to having them on board with the new perspectives they will bring to the table," he told Malaysiakini.
"I'm trying my best to come up with new initiatives that can always benefit the people and we are in the midst of brainstorming ideas to work around Covid-19," he added.
Rajiv said that Nalina, who is special assistant to Kampung Tunku assemblyperson Lim Yi Wei, was very capable and has done amazing work in her Pusat Wanita Berdaya programmes.
"She has dealt with numerous amounts of government agencies before to move things to prioritise the people's welfare," he added.
On Chang, Rajiv said he had often asked the DAP member to become a councillor, but didn't imagine that she would accept.
Chang, who is a party stalwart having served many years at the DAP headquarters, also served in the Communications and Multimedia Ministry with Gobind Singh Deo during the Pakatan Harapan federal administration.
She told Malaysiakini that key areas the public would expect to see action on include parking, flooding, illegal dumping and access to public parks.
"As with parts of Petaling Jaya with commercial areas, there are always parking issues. This is no different with the Section 17 commercial centre, where the market and new condo Seventeen Residences are.
"Roads in that area are quite narrow and indiscriminate parking makes it worse. That's something that I will be looking into," she said.
"There also appears to be a problem of illegal dumping of rubbish happening quite regularly.
"Flooding is another issue that happens at specific spots and I believe the problem or cause of it is 'known' to us, but sometimes the solutions aren't so straightforward, I'll continue to look into that," she added.
Continuing the dengue awareness programme is also a priority for Chang as there are hotspots in the area.
"Since physical activities will be reduced this year due to Covid-19, I will try to organise some creative online events to get the community engaged with each other and keep them communicating, particularly those who may be lonely or missing loved ones," she added.
PKR whip for MBPJ Suriase told Malaysiakini that he was looking forward to working with the new councillors as well.
"This is mainly an experienced line-up but we are also happy to have Norah and Ng as new councillors. They will have fresh ideas and while they are learning on the job, they can be guided by the more experienced councillors," he said.
Last May, shortly after the Sheraton Move that brought down the Harapan government at the federal level, PKR’s former young women's wing chief Nurainie Haziqah Shafii quit the party and announced her resignation as an MBPJ councillor.
Suriase, however, said that factionalism was a non-issue in making appointments.
"(Former PKR deputy president) Azmin Ali is no longer in the party, so it's not a factor. The party leadership for the state is Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari and that's the leadership we will work with," he added.
In announcing the new councillors, MBPJ said in a statement that the role of councillors in local authorities was to shoulder responsibilities as the drafter of council policies in line with that of the Selangor government.
“In addition to this, they must mobilise the community to engage directly in programmes as well as act as an intermediary between the council and the people of Petaling Jaya.
“The councillors comprise those with integrity who are expected to work hard and forge closer ties with the community in the council’s administrative zones, regardless of race, to help MBPJ make Petaling Jaya a 'Smart, Sustainable, Resilient and Dynamic' city," it added. - Mkini
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