Sarawak gov’t to table bill to amend Local Authority’s Ordinance

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KUCHING: A bill will be tabled at the coming Sarawak State Legislative Assembly session to amend the Local Authority (LA) Ordinance 1996 to enable the number of councillors in each local council in the state to be increased.

Sarawak Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud today said the increase was meant to accommodate more young people to participate in the decision-making process at the local government level.

“The (increasing) number of councillors, of course, is only a reflection of our desire to get their (young people’s) participation. What is more important is that these young people will not only bring in their own new ideas but will also learn the overall needs of society.”

He said this in his keynote address at a seminar on “Towards Socially and Culturally Vibrant Cities and Towns” organised by the State Local Government and Community Development Ministry and Angkatan Zaman Mansang Sarawak (AZAM Sarawak), here.

According to him, younger people would be able to use their abilities to help some members of society who might not be able to adapt promptly to the many changes that occurred around them.

Taib said the LAs would be a good ground to harness the concerns and wishes of the people due to their smaller area of jurisdiction, which would help the younger councillors to understand better the situation.

“The world has changed but some people may not have changed as much as the younger people have because the younger people grew in an entirely different setting.”

He said the involvement of more younger grassroots leaders would form part of the preparation to tackle issues related to urbanisation in the state, where urban areas had been anticipated to increase to 75 per cent by 2020.

Meanwhile, state Local Government and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, said the bill mentioned by Taib was to increase the number of appointed councillors by five in each LA.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the seminar, he said the amendment, however, would not include the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) and Kuching North City Hall (DBKU).

Wong said the 24 local councils in Sarawak to be affected by the amendment had an average of 25 councillors at present.

“Should the bill be passed (by the state assembly), it (the amendment to the LA Ordinance) will take effect from Jan 1, 2014,” he said.

“The term for the present councillors will expire on Dec 31, this year and the appointment of new faces or retainment of the present councillors will depend on the nominations from the state BN component parties and some non-governmental organisations.

“We have to look at people who probably have become either successful or have done well in their career. Having done so, they will have time to serve the community,” he added. – Bernama