Klang Municipal Council Symbolises Everything That Ails Selangor.
In TheStar today:
The oath-taking ceremony for the Klang Municipal Council set for tomorrow has been postponed again. “The Selangor state government advised the council to postpone the ceremony until all issues surrounding the councillors-designate have been settled,” said council president Abdul Bakir Zin when contacted yesterday.
This is the second postponement for the MPK. The original date for the oath-taking was Oct 19 but it was held back when controversy erupted over Port Klang state assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros constructing a mansion in Kampung Idaman without approval. Zakaria also drew flak for other offences such as not paying the assessments for his current house in Kampung Idaman and the Umno office in Port Klang, for more than 10 years.
Two other councillors, Datuk Mazlynoor Abdul Latiff and Faisal Abdullah, were later found to have also built their bungalows, in Kampung Raja Uda here, without getting the necessary approvals. Zakaria and Faisal have since given up their council positions. Mazlynoor submitted his applications and got them approved by the council recently. He is still a councillor.
Last week, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo said another five councillor-designates had also failed to pay assessments and submitted theirbuilding plans, and that they had to settle the problems before they could be sworn in.
They are Klang Umno division acting youth chief Zainuri Zakaria, Kapar Umno division secretary Samak Ahmad, Klang Umno division vice-chairman Nasaruddin M. Zin, Klang MIC division chief Alex Thiagarasan Palaniaya and Kapar MCA Youth chief Datuk Song Kee Chai. There are five vacancies among the 23 councillors’ posts. Umno needs to fill three seats while MCA and MIC each need to fill one post.
Abdul Bakir said the state government wanted all councillors-designate to be free of wrongdoings to set a good example to the public. Dr Khir wants all councillors to settle their “dues” before Dec 31 or face the risk of being permanently dropped.
Klang District Officer Bakhtiar Hussein said his officers, with the help of the MPK enforcement unit, will demolish the DZ Satay House restaurant at Jalan Pandamaran at 9.30am today. Bakhtiar said he had asked the police for personnel on standby to thwart any untoward incident.
***** Remember this is the second postponement of the oath-taking ceremony. What does it imply? It simply means that the bloody Majlis hasn't done a damned thing about rectifying the earlier problems. And why should they? It's not as if it is a big problem as far as they are concerned. This is how things have been done for a long time, and especially so after that short-statured dentist took the MB's chair. He has been condoning this and more all this while and if the MPK has been forced to put off their oath-taking, it is because of pressure from higher up the ladder, either the Sultan or some very senior Umno figure.
This sort of stubborn refusal to change for the better and desperately trying to maintain the status quo is happening all over the state of Selangor. I'm sure that if some independent investigators were allowed to go through the state finances, administration and procedures, they will come up with very interesting discoveries regarding the extent to which the government of Khir Toyo has ruined the state machinery and has subverted the various local councils and authorities. It doesn't require much imagination to realize the extent to which he has stacked every council and every entity however remotely connected to the state government, with his men and women. This has a dual purpose. Firstly there is greed and the overwhelming need to enrich oneself and one's cronies which leads to the second objective; the preservation and prolongation of political power. After all Toyo was a parachute candidate foisted on the unsuspecting citizens of Selangor by the former PM Dr Mahathir, ostensibly to cleanup the rampant corruption prevailing there. And oh what a great job he has done!! With no power base to speak of, he cunningly misused and abused the system to empower and cushion himself at the same time.
So it's not very surprising to see what is transpiring at the MPK. It is merely symbolic of what is taking place throughout the negeri and if the federal leaders wish to save the state from more harm, the right time has already passed and each day that they persist in keeping Toyo and his ilk in power, will see more of Selangor wallowing and slithering in slime.
The oath-taking ceremony for the Klang Municipal Council set for tomorrow has been postponed again. “The Selangor state government advised the council to postpone the ceremony until all issues surrounding the councillors-designate have been settled,” said council president Abdul Bakir Zin when contacted yesterday.
This is the second postponement for the MPK. The original date for the oath-taking was Oct 19 but it was held back when controversy erupted over Port Klang state assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros constructing a mansion in Kampung Idaman without approval. Zakaria also drew flak for other offences such as not paying the assessments for his current house in Kampung Idaman and the Umno office in Port Klang, for more than 10 years.
Two other councillors, Datuk Mazlynoor Abdul Latiff and Faisal Abdullah, were later found to have also built their bungalows, in Kampung Raja Uda here, without getting the necessary approvals. Zakaria and Faisal have since given up their council positions. Mazlynoor submitted his applications and got them approved by the council recently. He is still a councillor.
Last week, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo said another five councillor-designates had also failed to pay assessments and submitted theirbuilding plans, and that they had to settle the problems before they could be sworn in.
They are Klang Umno division acting youth chief Zainuri Zakaria, Kapar Umno division secretary Samak Ahmad, Klang Umno division vice-chairman Nasaruddin M. Zin, Klang MIC division chief Alex Thiagarasan Palaniaya and Kapar MCA Youth chief Datuk Song Kee Chai. There are five vacancies among the 23 councillors’ posts. Umno needs to fill three seats while MCA and MIC each need to fill one post.
Abdul Bakir said the state government wanted all councillors-designate to be free of wrongdoings to set a good example to the public. Dr Khir wants all councillors to settle their “dues” before Dec 31 or face the risk of being permanently dropped.
Klang District Officer Bakhtiar Hussein said his officers, with the help of the MPK enforcement unit, will demolish the DZ Satay House restaurant at Jalan Pandamaran at 9.30am today. Bakhtiar said he had asked the police for personnel on standby to thwart any untoward incident.
***** Remember this is the second postponement of the oath-taking ceremony. What does it imply? It simply means that the bloody Majlis hasn't done a damned thing about rectifying the earlier problems. And why should they? It's not as if it is a big problem as far as they are concerned. This is how things have been done for a long time, and especially so after that short-statured dentist took the MB's chair. He has been condoning this and more all this while and if the MPK has been forced to put off their oath-taking, it is because of pressure from higher up the ladder, either the Sultan or some very senior Umno figure.
This sort of stubborn refusal to change for the better and desperately trying to maintain the status quo is happening all over the state of Selangor. I'm sure that if some independent investigators were allowed to go through the state finances, administration and procedures, they will come up with very interesting discoveries regarding the extent to which the government of Khir Toyo has ruined the state machinery and has subverted the various local councils and authorities. It doesn't require much imagination to realize the extent to which he has stacked every council and every entity however remotely connected to the state government, with his men and women. This has a dual purpose. Firstly there is greed and the overwhelming need to enrich oneself and one's cronies which leads to the second objective; the preservation and prolongation of political power. After all Toyo was a parachute candidate foisted on the unsuspecting citizens of Selangor by the former PM Dr Mahathir, ostensibly to cleanup the rampant corruption prevailing there. And oh what a great job he has done!! With no power base to speak of, he cunningly misused and abused the system to empower and cushion himself at the same time.
So it's not very surprising to see what is transpiring at the MPK. It is merely symbolic of what is taking place throughout the negeri and if the federal leaders wish to save the state from more harm, the right time has already passed and each day that they persist in keeping Toyo and his ilk in power, will see more of Selangor wallowing and slithering in slime.
Labels: Malaysian Politics., Toyolism, Unmitigated Greed.
posted by The Malaysian. at 11/23/2006 12:55:00 PM
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