Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Whooppee! It's finally happening on Thursday in MBPJ HQ folks!

aNt's aNgle:

Though I haven't been "served" any official notice yet, it is now crystalised. 

The swearing-in ceremony of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) will take place on Thursday. 

Time: 3pm. 

I received several calls from my councillor colleagues (or should I say "ex" until we all duly get sworn-in again?) informing me of the date. 

Some were very excited about it. 

Others needless to say bittersweet and rather nonchalant especially after what happened at the last time when everything was cancelled at the final hour. 


Well, it's highly unlikely that that disaster will repeat itself but again, one can never tell for sure going by the turn of events, lately.

It's been strongly suggested that there will be five new faces in MBPJ's councillors list.

But again - and I do mean again - I'm not saying anything until I turn up on Thursday to see if it's true or not.

One thing I know for sure is that good ol' Michael Soon who has been confirmed as "dropped from the list" is turning up on Thursday. 


In his true sporting and professional fashion, he says he will be there to give us all his moral support.

No one knows what it takes to be a councillor better than Michael Soon. 


And for me it will be a great privilege and encouragement to see Mike there when I take up my vows. 


And to all of you like J Lim who short messaged and emailed me asking me why there was a delay in the councillors' list, my honest answer is I don't really know the answer to that question. 

What you all read in the newspapers is about what I know too. 


Frankly, at this point, I don't really care anymore. 

What matters now is that we all get on with our jobs.

And heaven knows, there is so much that really needs to be done in the city of Petaling Jaya.

And we can't afford to dilly-dally anymore. 


Warm regards to all!

PET+BLOGSPOT

Tuesday July 13, 2010 (StarMetro)

MB gets memo on NGO councillors

Reports by JADE CHAN and FAZLEENA AZIZ at the Selangor State Assembly


THE Coalition of NGO and Professional Appointed Councillors (Conpac) and Coalition for Good Governance (CGG) have expressed their disappointment over the unfair allocation under the NGO/professional quota for councillors in Selangor in a memorandum handed to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

Conpac chairman Tan Jo Hann said they were unhappy with the 25% allocation for NGO/professional councillors for the 2010/2011 term.

He said the allocation was also unfair in that many appointees were proxies for political parties.

“NGO councillors are not charitable acts. They are supposed to be non-political and are here to serve the people for a better society,” he said.
In black and white: (From left) Phang and Tan handing over their memorandum to Khalid as Petaling Jaya city councillor Cynthia Gabriel (middle) looks on

He said among the group’s demands were:

·that the state government ensure the 25% allocation is offered to genuine NGOs, academicians and professionals who are not political party members;

·that a platform is established to review and ensure fairer representation in the selection process for NGO councillors, such as by having two CGG representatives involved in the process; and

·that a transparent evaluation system be developed to evaluate NGO/professional councillors and serve as an avenue for said councillors to defend against accusations against them.

CGG chairman Jeffrey Phang said after the March 2008 general election, the public was more keen to be an active participant in ensuring sustainable development in their communities, hence the need for councillors to make decisions that were for the good of the people.

“Politically-linked councillors appointed under the NGO quota will be serving two masters, and it is impossible for them to serve society first,” said Phang, whose organisation is a coalition of some 40 NGOs.

“If you do not respect the NGO quota, you are taking away a ‘voice of conscience’ out of the council.

“The removal of the NGO quota also contradicts good governance principles, as even corporations appoint independent directors to ensure check and balance.”

Asked to comment on the memorandum, Khalid said he appreciated the response by NGOs wanting a positive involvement and their significant contributions to the local councils.

“The state will call for a discussion on the matter of who should be responsible for the appointment of NGO councillors,” he said.

“The state government needs a coordinated group of councillors to ensure the vision and effort to enhance the local government will not be jeopardised as a result of conflict among councillors.

“There have been certain elements of misunderstanding and mistrust over the past two years and this needs to be addressed collectively,” said Khalid.

“It is best that the differences and views be handled in private discussions before making any public decisions, as any debate in public will hinder the progress of activities.”

He then announced that the final list of councillors would be released to the respective local councils by tomorrow at the latest.

He said it was up to the local councils to contact the individual councillors and make the arrangements for the swearing-in.


FEWER NGO COUNCILLORS WORRISOME (Nst Streets)
SHAH ALAM: Those appointed as representatives of non-governmental organisations in local councils must be free of political influence.
As such, these NGO representatives in local councils should not be members of political parties.

This is among the things in a memorandum given to Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim by the Coalition of Non-Governmental and Professional Appointed Councillors (Conpac) and Coalition For Good Governance (CGG).

Conpac president Tan Jo Hann said the memorandum was not a form of demonstration but was instead an enquiry on the status of NGO councillors in all the local councils in Selangor.
Apart from this, Conpac and CGG had also asked for NGOs to be part of the selection process for councillors.

Tan said the memorandum also called for a system of evaluation for the NGOs as part of the democratic selection process.

He claimed some of the former councillors who performed well were dropped in the new term because they were seen as obstructing project approvals that were taking place in a council.

Both Conpac and CGG urged the state government to reveal the list of names of all the councillors appointed under the promised 25 per cent NGO quota.

"We want the NGO's professional expertise listed for the review of CGG. There should also be a proper evaluation of the assessment of those NGOs and professionals whose names have been dropped from the present list.

"This will enable a free and fair chance for them to defend themselves. There should also be a transparent assessment system jointly developed by CGG to evaluate the appointed NGOs," said Tan.

CGG chairman Jeffrey Phang said NGOs no longer want to be passive observers.

He claimed while the Petaling Jaya City Council retained its NGO quota for the third term, the Shah Alam City and Subang Jaya and Klang municipal councils had their NGO quota taken over by political appointees.

He also claimed there were no NGO councillors in smaller councils such as the Kuala Selangor Municipal Council.

Phang said there had also been no evidence produced by the state government to show the public that councillors were selected based on merit and past performance.

He added that there were concerns that some NGO representatives were removed without good reason.

The memorandum, while commending the state for creating a wider space for expression and tabling the Freedom of Information Bill, has taken a step backward by removing the NGO councillors.

"While 75 per cent of the quota was allocated to political appointees, the 25 per cent (allocated for NGOs) serves as the conscience for councils' decisions by virtue of the independent standing of the NGO councillors.

"NGO councillors by definition maintain their independence and base their decisions solely on what benefits the people. NGOs' decisions are not subject to influence by political party pressure," said Phang.

Petaling Jaya Councillor Cynthia Gabriel, who was also present when the memorandum was handed to Khalid yesterday, said the Subang Jaya Municipal Council had seven NGO councillors last term but there were only three in the new term.

"We just want to know why the numbers were reduced," she said.

Khalid, while saying he appreciated the response from the NGOs and understands that they want efficient management, said he wanted them to stop debating the issue in public.

"We found out that in the past term there were misunderstandings between the NGOs and some political appointees. However, there is always a need to address a matter collectively," he said.

The menteri besar said the full list of councillors was ready and they would be sworn in either today or tomorrow.
   
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2 comments:

Michael Soon said...

Hello Anthony

Very glad that the swearing-in is now on!

I will be there whether it rains fire or brimstone.

Now I that I am an Advisor I can give some sound advice to the rookie councillors. haha

MBPJ is lucky to have some good quality councillors - that's why the state has recognised the ground-breaking initiatives made. Even u have done a great job spearheading OKU facilities in PJ and it has become the shining light in Selangor

Syabas - see u this Thursday

God bless

stanley said...

as an advisor for selangor you should advise that there must a disabled in each council so that the disabled councilor can spearhead OKU facilities in the respective council

GOD BLESS