Khalid sets up ministerial council of MPs for KL

Formation of new council comes after BN-appointed members told to resign from DBKL advisory board.

The Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad has formed an advisory council of MPs.

PUTRAJAYA: A Federal Territory Ministerial Council has been set up, with Kuala Lumpur MPs on board, to oversee policies and development of the national capital.

The move comes a month after the federal government told Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to halt meetings of its Board of Advisors, half of whom comprised Barisan Nasional politicians.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said the first meeting of the ministerial council was held at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall on Friday.

Khalid said the involvement of MPs in the ministerial council meeting was currently only for development planning after 2020 as city plans for up to 2020 were already in place.

However, the council would have higher authority and position than DBKL in making negotiations and decisions on any project in the city, Bernama reported him as saying.

“In the past, the structure of the Barisan Nasional government did not involve discussions with the MPs since the structure had the mayor and the director in it. So, there was no room for elected representatives to be given a role,” Khalid said.

Khalid had ordered political appointees on the advisory board to resign, and the 11 MPs in Kuala Lumpur had then sought a role in overseeing DBKL affairs.

However, last week local government expert Derek Fernandez urged MPs not to become members of the advisory board to avoid political standoffs with the mayor, who chairs the board.

He had suggested that an advisory board to the Federal Territories minister be formed instead. The MPs would then have oversight over City Hall, as the minister was empowered to issue policy directives which must be followed by the mayor.

Khalid said that in general, the involvement of MPs would eventually cover matters such as DBKL’s budget and programmes. “In fact DBKL needs help from the people’s representatives as they have grassroots support. This requires two-way communication,” he said. - FMT