Reform the Local Government if we want to be First World Nation

I have said enough, but I need to emphasise once again that no country in this world can reach the First World Status if its local municipal or city councils are unable to perform a good job.

        For this reason, Malaysia will remain a third world country if focus is not put on reforming the local government. Everything that the local government fails to do, it affects us directly. What is worse is that not many people know there are three tiers in our administration system. Most will just complain the "government" has failed to provide good public amenities. 

        Take all the issues raised in this blogpost, for example, Petaling Jaya City Council has already started working on some of the issues, while most of the issues under the jurisdiction of the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) have not been solved. 

        One can understand there are too many issues, but these have accummulated over the years, and doing nothing about it, means they are just not solving the problems. 

After the paint has worn off due to weathering, if not repainted, the road sign may have to be changed new again but do the local council staff care?

        For example, how can a local council staff justify moving a road sign from the junction where it was strategically placed and moved to another location some 20-30 feet away? Visitors to the area would not be able to find the housing estate. 

Original position of this roadsign was at 'A'. I merely asked for the road sign to be re-painted so that it does not need to be replaced once the rust has set in, but after re-painting it, MPS relocated the sign board to 'B' claiming that they will be expanding the road in 2023. Now is already 2024, where is the road expansion? 

        MPS is notorious for this. For this reason, it has earned itself a bad reputation whenever I talk about the road sign. 

        It has a number of these road signs still in the wrong places, and these have been highlighted to its head of engineering, Ir Hj Shaiful Nor Aidil B Mohd Jaya on a number of occasions, yet nothing has been done. 

        Here are my suggestions if we want to see true reforms in our local councils:

(a) The council presidents and mayors should carry out Management by Walkabout at least once a week. This will help them to be familiar with the places under their own care. Staff will also be kept on their toes. 

(b) Instead of making SISPAA a closed system, it should be made public so that both complainants, members of the general public and the top level executives including the state assemblypersons, parliamentarians, ministers, mentris besar, state excos, as well as both the Prime Minister and his deputies can view all the unresolved issues and press the button. The department heads that fail to deliver will automatically become obvious and face indirect pressure.

(c) Local councilllors should be tasked to organise monthly audits carried out by the resident associations. Residents are the stakeholders; therefore, they have every reason to report any shortcomings.

By being proactive, there will be fewer complaints. As a complainant and one who handles other people's complaints for the past 30 years, and highlighting them in the press, I can assure you that NO ONE likes to complain, especially if they see the local authorities doing their job. 

(d) Carry out ad hoc audits on project costs and approval processes if there are doubts about the actual costs. If there are cases which warrant further investigations by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), there should not be any hesitation to refer these individuals to the MACC. 

(e) Assign each enforcement officer to a designated zone. If there are complaints like this which he fails to address, the officer should either be disciplined, demoted, or cold-storaged. 

Also read this: https://come-to-senses.blogspot.com/2024/09/datuk-seri-mari-kita-buat-pantauan.html