KENINGAU: The Sabah Local Government and Housing Ministry will review the allowance rates for district council chairmen and councillors throughout the State.
Its Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Arif said the review was important given the significant roles and responsibilities of councillors in supporting development at district level.
He said the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary would conduct a detailed assessment before its findings were brought to the State Cabinet for consideration.
“The allowances for district council chairmen and councillors need to be reviewed because their roles are very important in district development,” he told reporters after officiating the swearing-in and presentation of appointment letters to members of the Keningau, Tambunan and Tenom District Councils for the 2025-2027 term, held as part of the 2026 Minister’s Aspirations Tour at the Keningau District Council’s Dewan Koningau here, on Tuesday.
On a related matter, Arifin said the need to establish an Urban Planning Officer post in every local authority (PBT) would also be given attention.
He said only the Sandakan and Tawau local authorities currently had Urban Planning Officers, while other PBTs still required the posts to strengthen urban and district development planning.
He also stressed the need for every PBT to have an engineer to ensure technical and engineering matters could be handled more effectively.
“Currently, only Assistant Engineers are available in several PBTs in the State. Therefore, the need to have engineers in every PBT must also be given attention,” he said.
Arifin also reminded all district councillors to carry out their duties and responsibilities transparently and with integrity.
He said every councillor must understand and fulfil their designated roles to ensure local authority administration ran smoothly in the interests of the people and district development.
Also present were Assistant Finance Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ishak Datuk Ayub, Assistant Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Jordan Jude Ellron, Keningau MP Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan, Liawan assemblyman Datuk Nik Mohd Nadzri Nik Zawawi, heads of departments and community leaders.
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