By R. Nadeswaran
In the absence of local government elections, state governments should take responsibility for acts and omissions of the various local authorities under their purview.
The reasons are straightforward and obvious because the law says so.
Section 9(1) of the Local Government Act 1976 states: The State Authority may from time to time give the local authority directions of a general character, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, on the policy to be followed in the exercise of the powers conferred and the duties imposed on the local authority by or under this Act in relation to matters which appear to the State Authority to affect the interests of the local authority area, and the local authority shall as soon as possible give effect to all such directions.
The statute spells out the role of councillors and who can be appointed.
Therefore, the argument put forward by Klang MP V Ganabatirau that MPs or assemblypersons cannot get involved in any plan (for development projects) is wrong.
He also made another sweeping claim that local council members can only attend (meetings) but this is far from the truth.
These issues arose at a police town hall session in Klang, Selangor on Monday (Jan 29) when Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation director Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain went head-to-head with Ganabatirau about town planning issues.
It is flawed to argue that councillors have no say in development plans and the MP’s argument that “only the respective local council president, its licensing director, and planning director, and the district officers (are the ones who) should be blamed”, is again without basis and should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Councillors sit in almost all sub-committees including traffic, planning, licencing, etc, and any decisions made at these meetings have to be endorsed at the monthly meeting of the council.
If he may recall, in January last year, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) mayor, Mohamad Azhan Md Amir found himself in a pickle because he tried to force a decision that directly contradicted the collective decision by the councillors.
The law states that any decision must be made by the majority of the councillors – not just the mayor or senior officials.
Shuhaily’s “advice” to politicians and lawmakers to consider security concerns when they approve development projects to prevent security and other issues faced by residents down the line is long overdue.
Projects approved without due consideration
Local authorities have been approving projects without taking into consideration traffic flow, security, and policing.
The consequences have been devastating and the members of the council which approve them never take responsibility for their actions.
So, what was wrong with Shuhaily’s advice? To effectively carry out policing activities, the people, town planners, and politicians have a role to play.
When the Bandar Utama township was being developed in the early 1990s, the jurisdiction of the Petaling Jaya police force had to be extended with the same number of personnel and vehicles.
It was not until two years later that they got their full complement, by which time, Damansara Perdana and nearby areas were slated for more development.
Following complaints from residents about crime rates and street racing, he asked: “All I do is perform my duty according to the law. Why did the YBs, at the time of approving such projects, not think of the wellbeing of your constituency?”
As an example, he alluded to MPs asking for leniency after the police issued summons to motorists who parked their cars outside high-density areas.
At a press conference later in the day, Shuhaily admitted the exchange had become heated but such discourse was welcomed.
“To me, it is very positive. Even though it was quite tense, everybody understands their roles,” he said.
This is not an effort to “educate” the Klang MP and four-term Selangor state executive councillor, but politicians (and that includes councillors) should refer to the police for their input on any proposed development.
Including them in the One-Stop-Centre in local governments which was set up to standardise the process for planning, building plans, and land development applications should be the first step.
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