Councils told to shape up
The Star 9/2/2006 By EDWARD RAJENDRA

SHAH ALAM: A real shame –that's how Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo described seven of the eight municipal councils in the state which has declared itself a developed state.

He said only the city council here was found to have provided good services to ratepayers. The findings were from a survey conducted by the state on all municipal councils.

“It is a real shame as these councils are not performing to the expectations of ratepayers,” he told reporters after the weekly state exco meeting here yesterday.

“And four of the seven have performed in an atrocious manner.”

He said the seven – Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Selayang, Klang, Ampang, Kajang and Sepang – scored below 58.5% in the evaluation. Shah Alam was given an 80% score.

“We assessed them on collection of garbage, responding to public complaints, counter service, staff discipline and even on their expenditure,” he said.

“If the councils can’t handle this, than it is bad as their nature of business revolves around these services.”

Dr Khir has asked the local authorities to “pull up their socks.”

“We can’t have those with a lackadaisical attitude in the council. Accountability must be there, and as an immediate measure, an exco member will be seconded to each municipal council,” he said.

He said the members would be required to monitor the performance of the councils under them and submit a report to the state.

On another issue, Dr Khir said his office had received a number of complaints from house buyers who had been cheated by developers.

“Our legal affairs department has studied the matter, and we will advise the house buyers to lodge police reports,” he said.

“The Selangor Housing Developers Board, State Legal Affairs Department and the respective state assemblymen will help in lodging the police reports.”

Dr Khir said this was to “discipline the errant developers”.