Politicians in local council – More loss than benefit

1. The subject of local council election in Selangor is dead. The basis of my statement is a legal one based on the local council ACT. I have written about it before. In light of recent decision by MPAJ for approving the construction of houses within a tight mosque compound in BA despite not meeting the JPBD Guidelines 2010, I feel it is imperative that this issue is revisited.
   

    

2. In the past, many of us residents don’t even know about the local council and let alone its function. The local council members are appointed by the ruling government of the day. Previously elected reps and key political appointees sit in this committee. Since PR won the power of ruling Selangor, 1/3^rd of the appointments are reserved for NGO’s. Unfortunately in many cases the so called NGO’s are also members of ruling political coalition. The idea of giving the 3^rd voice back to public is merely a theory that is meant to appease the public. The actual voice of the public does not reach the local government.
   

    

3. Since last year, I had highlighted that Selangor State Government (SSG) should explore the appointment of local residential association heads irrespective of their political ideology to ensure that the people’s voices are well represented at the lowest level of governance. This does not go well with many readers and politicians.
   

    

4. In PJ, we have Johan Tung Abdullah who is the current President of APAC (All Petaling Jaya Residents Association) which is a coalition of 20 Residents Association. Despite the maturity of the system in PJ, post of President of APAC does not guarantee a representation in the Local Council. In Bukit Antarabangsa COBARA Chairman Position is similar as in PJ. After the previous Ahli Majlis (AM) chose not to renew his appointment, the new AM who is a political appointee and currently resides in Setiawanga was made the AM. Apparently he bought a house in BA with the intention to stay here to avoid any political flashes.
   

    

5. For those that is not clear about my writing (since off late many are getting confused), I am not asking the current COBARA or APAC Chairman to be appointed. I am saying that the Post carries an automatic position in the local council. In this case, both the presiding Chair should be on the local council and only vacate such position if they were not reelected into their respective local RA positions. The personality is secondary. My frustration lies with the fact that my current AM has remained silent and the PR local leaders has been silent on the approval of the construction of the houses on in MBA despite it is against the JPBD guidelines. My emails remain unanswered. Because of this, as a resident I am powerless. The party that I voted had betrayed me again.
   

    

6. The approval given by the local authorities and the silence of local political appointees send a very wrong signal. It seems that things have not change from what is being practiced in the past. Local council members dare not speak up about important issues because they are worried about political implications. With churches being burned and mosque being vandalized by paint, many people dare not speaks up. If the Muslim feels that do not want to speak as they do not want to be seen as offending the mosque committee, do you expect the non- Muslim will speak up on such issues. This is simply not good.
   

    

7. Right now if one were to study the organization structure of the local council, the YDP post is a very important post. At the moment this post is filled by Federal Officers which was seconded to the local authorities. The YDP has wide powers. He is also the Chairman of the Local Council. I think the time has come that this post is filled by local resident which is filled by a process of recruitment on a contractual basis. Honestly words cannot describe my frustration on how the process has been manipulated to approve a project that cannot be approved. Should I continue and fight this issue because it is a fardu kifayah or just drop it because it is a “masjid”… sensitive lo!