|
Ka Ting, Ka Chuan Make History
In Office Hand-over
24/03/2008 Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- History was created today when a brother
handed over his previous office as Minister of Housing and Local Government
to his older brother.
The younger brother is Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, the former minister and MCA
president, who handed over leadership of the ministry to Datuk Ong Ka Chuan,
who is also MCA secretary-general, in a simple ceremony at the ministry
here.
"We will continue to uphold the good policies and culture introduced by the
previous minister (Ka Ting) and work hard to improve the ministry's
efficiency, focusing on the delivery system," Ka Chuan told reporters after
the handing-over ceremony.
"We have a rating system to monitor whether the guidelines issued are
observed by those involved and hope that this will function well."
Ka Chuan said he would also ensure the smooth functioning of the ministry's
one-stop centre to reduce bureaucracy in the approval of projects.
On a another matter, the new minister said he would gather the people's
views on local council elections before submitting his findings to the
Cabinet.
"Although the local council elections were abolished 40 years ago, we are
willing to listen to the people's views on the need to bring back the
elections," he said.
Asked whether funds for local councils in the states under the DAP, PAS and
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) would be affected, Ka Chuan said the matter
would be referred to the Cabinet.
However, any changes made would not affect the interests of the people in
the states, he said, adding: "We do not want the services and infrastructure
enjoyed by the people to be affected."
-- BERNAMA |
