All political appointees on DBKL advisory board step down

ALL eight Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) advisory board members who were politically appointed have resigned from their positions. 

Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz said they resigned on their own accord.

“We appreciate the service they rendered as advisory board member,” he said.

According to Bandar Tun Razak Umno chief Datuk Rizalman Mokhtar, one of the eight to step down, the advisory board members were called in by the mayor for a meeting yesterday and briefed on the request for them to resign due to the change in government.

“All the members willingly signed the papers and the process was done in a good manner.

“We have no issue and gave our consent immediately,” he said, adding that all members attended except  Ahmad Faisal Abdul Karim (Umno) and Zainal Abidin Mohd Rafique (Umno).

Rizalman said all members were given a letter asking if they agreed to resign and were given two weeks to reply. However, all decided to sign it on the spot.

“There was no need for the two weeks. The only regret was that the minister should have informed us directly instead of going to the press,” he said.

When contacted, Gerakan public complaints chairman Datuk Wilson Lau Hoi Keong confirmed that he too had resigned at the meeting.

Wilson Lau Hoi Keong also resigned.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad had earlier asked that the eight Barisan Nasional-appointed DBKL advisory board members step down. He said Kuala Lumpur MPs should be on the board instead.

He explained that there was no moral justification for the present board members to hold on to their posts and that they should make room for elected representatives.

Khalid added that MPs were not part of the DBKL decision-making process previously, but that this had to change.

The current board members were appointed by the previous administration, with more than half of them being political appointees.

Based on the Rules and Regulations of the Advisory Board of the City of Kuala Lumpur 1989, the board must have 15 members, with the Federal Territories Ministry, Finance Ministry and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department each having one representative. Two representatives from the Selangor government must also be included.

The remaining members must have knowledge on local government issues, and must be professionals with expertise on commerce or industries to represent the needs and interests of the community.

The DBKL board had 13 people from the previous administration.

Datuk Rizalman Mokhtar said a letter was handed to the members asking if they agreed to resign.

Out of them, eight were political appointees with four from Umno and one representative each from MCA, Gerakan and MyPPP.

The remaining members are one representative each from the Selangor government, EPU, the Federal Territories Ministry, Malaysian Institute of Architects and Real Estate and Housing Developers Association.- Star