Saturday, November 28, 2009

Budget for disabled friendly facilities - StarMetro


Friday November 27, 2009

MBPJ councillors get RM55.53mil

By FAZLEENA AZIZ


FOR the first time, the Petaling Jaya city councillors have been allocated RM55.53mil based on their respective zones.

The allocation is part of the RM260.44mil budget next year tabled by the Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman recently.

Roslan said the different allocations were based on the needs of the respective areas.

The highest allocation goes to councillor Latheefa Koya (RM5.4mil, Zone 16)) followed by Anthony Thanasayan (RM4.9mil, Zone 13) and R. Selvarajan (RM4.4mil).

Councillor Kamarudin Suhaimi was allocated the lowest (RM339,620, Zone 23) while Mahharul Ismail allocation is (RM428,700, Zone 18).

The allocations are a boon for the councillors but questions have surfaced on why certain areas are getting more than the others.

StarMetro spoke to the councillors about their plans for their allocations and what could be expected from this new move by MBPJ.

Latheefa said her allocation was based on a combination of requests from the residents, needs of the area, community representatives as well as the council’s outlook.

She said her budget would have to cover her large area, including Section 1A, 4, 18 and 3.

“When broken down it is not that big at all. My area is very old and needs a lot of upgrading work and this includes broken drains,” she said.
She said the allocation allowed the councillors to save time on red tape and get on with the job.

“This will also enable MBPJ to specifically carry out what the residents want,” she said.

She said since this was the first time they had been given such a budget, they would spend only on necessities.

Anthony said the money allocated would be used primarily for Section 52, which would become a green, clean and disabled friendly zone.

He said the money would be used for projects that had been neglected in the past like facilities for the disabled and proper pavement.

“There have been instances in the past where due to red tape, some plans could not be carried out. With this allocation, we want to plan wisely and cater to the public’s needs.

Councillor Kamarudin Suhaimi is positive about the small budget allocated for his area. He said the council was not going to spend money unless necessary.
He said the council still had RM80mil in reserves as it had not used up all the money from this year’s budget.

“My area does not have many people and it is very small. Most of the money will be used for roads and the drainage system near the Bintang market area,” he said.

He said they could always ask the financial committee for more allocation if the funds given were insufficient.

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