The local councils must works with greater vigor towards to keep facilities in their areas in tip top conditions. In this connection, each of them should start by having a two- year program how to keep their facilities in tip top condition and generally improve their services to the people.
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| Local Authorities' Councillors Seminar held at Pullman Hotel |
The State government is giving the local councils RM30 million this year for the purpose. Additional allocations for next year will depend on the structure and focus of local councils in their endeavor to improve their services to the people.
Sarawak will celebrate 50 years of Independence in Malaysia in 2013. Perhaps, local authorities should consider it to be appropriate to make necessary preparations to be able to perform its function almost fully by then.
Besides, the Chief Minister, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud says it is his intention, before he retires, to complete the reorganization of the administrative system of local authorities to enable them to perform their functions almost fully by then. Generally, it is the intention of the State government to make local authorities to be more active not only in physical but also social development of their areas.
The local authorities comprising of City hall, Municipal councils, district councils and rural district councils have been evolved from self-help bodies, very lose in nature and very much dependent on shoe string budget for operations, have become an important arm of the government in maintaining a rapport with the Rakyat.
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| DBKU |
As Sarawak gained Independence through the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the immediate task was to change the structure of local authorities. Otherwise, a local council could remain status quo, or remain weak as an official entity rather than the grass root organization. Essentially, local government is people representatives’ organization.
It is a real challenge to the Government to provide good services to the people. The State, with a population of only 2.5 million has more than 5,000 settlements comprising of kampong, longhouses, bazaars and towns that are distant a part from each other with the distance of 5 to 30 miles apart. They are scattered over a land surface of 125,000 square KMs.
Admittedly, it is a difficult challenge to overcome. However, as the government is committed to serve the people from the levels of towns to the ground, continuous efforts are being made to re-organise the work processes to enable civil servants to work closely with the people. The services must permeate from cities and towns right down to new growth centres, which have the potentials to become major towns in the next 20 years. This is the general picture that local councils must be able to visualize for the future.
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| DBKU enforcement officers checking the validity of advertisement and taking down expired banners. |
The State government has started to reorganize the hierarchy of urbanized areas with the primary objective to tackle problems of urbanization and social adjustments. At one stage, perhaps 10 years from now, the government structure may have to change; it may have to filter down to the structure of local government to cope with the process of urbanization.
At the moment the State government is still having problems in trying to reach the lowest level of the administration through local authorities. It is still voluntary in nature. However, we should keep it that way in order to remain close to the people. This is important for us as the biggest state in Malaysia.
In Semenanjung Malaysia, the local authority either as an area of municipal council or district council, is very easy to administer as it also has the presence of the government. It can be done as Semenajung Malaysia has a big population. It started to have areas with big population with Briggs resettlement schemes, which had to be carried as security measures to prevent infiltration and subversion by the communists in the late 40s and 50s. The State government did the same thing in a small way at the Operation Hammer and RASCOM areas.
The State government, once peace and harmony could be restored and it could earn more revenue, felt that it should spend more money at the people’s level by local authorities. For this reason, local authorities must make the necessary preparations to be able to perform its function almost fully by the year 2013 as Sarawak celebrates 50 years of Independence in Malaysia.
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| MBKS |
Chief Minister, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib says it is his intention, before he retires, to complete the reorganization of the administrative system of local authorities to enable them to perform their functions almost fully by then. Generally, it is the intention of the State government to make local authorities to be more active not only in physical but also social development of their areas.
The State government, during the last few years, has been giving additional financial assistance to local councils to pay for the upkeep of their organizations. Some of the local councils do not have sufficient allocation to play for salaries of their staff. Obviously, their revenue from rate collection cannot even cover the expenses for the upkeep of their organizations.
It can be anticipated that Local councils should be able to improve their revenue from rate collection from estates, now being developed in their areas, once the estates start to earn some revenue. However, most of the estates will take time to mature. Meanwhile, the State government must continue to give some assistance as incentives to local councils to make continuous efforts to improve their services; a long wait for revenue from estates may nullify inducement for them to improve their services.
This practice has been going on for some time. The State government has already reached 30 years and feels obliged to re-examine ways to help local councils. The State government has decided to give more allocations to local councils, those in rural ones that cannot afford to upgrade their services in particular. The State Government, after getting the general sanction of the Cabinet has decided to direct local councils to generally upgrade their services within the next two years.
Hopefully, by the year 2013 local councils will be able to raise their rates slightly higher with better support and assistance from the government. Obviously, financial assistances from the Government have helped to alleviate the burden of local councils in discharging their services to the people. However, their administrative structure still needs to be reorganized and strengthened to carry out heavier responsibilities towards the year 2020 and beyond.
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| Inspection by MBKS Mayor and MBKS officers |
The State Government is setting aside RM25 million for local councils to start restructuring and strengthening their administrative structures. Of course, municipal councils and city halls do not have problems with the exercise. The problems are being experienced mainly by local councils in rural areas and must be given due consideration to ensure all local councils at district level in rural areas will have good and proper executive teams functioning by the year 2013.
The State Secretary has been asked to work out how best to revise salary schemes for secretaries of local councils and perks for councilors, who only get each RM50 meeting allowance for one session. The councilors can be expected to be busier as local councils will be required to shoulder heavier responsibilities in providing better services to the people.
As councilors may have to sit in various committees, they should be given financial support through a proper scheme of allowances for them. What it will be is up to the local councils to decide; the State government leaves it to them to decide to give daily rather than sitting allowance.
In this regard, the administrative structure for a local council may be similar to those now being put into operations in Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara (DBKU), Majlis Bandaran Kuching Selatan(MBKS) and Miri Municipal Council to ensure each of them will have focus in their work. The work must involve councilors to enable them to have greater appreciation of the need to have facilities including toilets in tip top conditions.
At one time, the Ministry of Environment and Public Health introduced the grading of public toilets as four, three or two- star toilets; no public toilets should be put as one-star toilets now as they should be at least be three-star category. Besides continuous improvements must be made to keep them clean until all of them become five -star toilets. The State Government will help local councils to keep public toilet in tip top conditions in the overall efforts to develop eco-tourism.
The local councils can be expected to carry out their works with greater vigor beginning from this year towards the year 2020 and beyond in order to keep facilities in areas of their jurisdiction in tip top conditions. In this connection, local councils can each do a two- year program how to keep their facilities in tip top condition and generally improve their services to the people. The State government is giving the local councils RM30 million this year for this purpose. Additional allocations for next year will depend on the structure and focus of local councils in their endeavor to improve their services to the people.
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| Inspection at Stutong Market |
Generally, the people must know that the local councils work with and listen to them on matters that they can see at their levels; the state government does not have to meddle in local administration. Instead the local councils must build greater empowerment in their jobs. Hopefully, local councils with better maintenance and services can bring better lifestyle to people in rural areas; this is my vision for local authorities.
It is also hoped that fully all local councils, through the leadership of local councilors, should be able to better services to the people in rural areas after a bit of re-organisation of administrative structures and getting financial grants from the government. Understandably, the people in rural areas are yet to enjoy better amenities and more active involvement of local councils in the maintenance and improvement of their areas. This is the happy picture that all local councils to visualize as the State moves forward to become a developed state towards the year 2020 and beyond.
benuasains
*Photos Source:
http://www.dbku.gov.my/Eng/eng.html
http://www.mbks.gov.my/
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