KUCHING: Miri City Council (MCC) mayor Lawrence Lai has been given a week to produce a full re-port on a recent incident where a Christmas greeting banner put up by SUPP was allegedly taken down by the council.
The incident, which occurred last week, has created a public uproar.
Local Government and Community Development Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said he had di-rected Lai to come up with the report.
“I ordered a full investigation on the incident three days ago, and he has a week to provide a full report on the incident,” he said when met by reporters yesterday.
Wong elaborated that the incident should not have happened as Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem had always stressed on the freedom of religion.
“The incident is something unacceptable, and we will decide on our next course of action after getting the report,” said Wong, adding that it was understood that the banner was taken down by MCC enforcement officers.
On another matter, Wong said under the new guidelines, the rates for advertisements in public places had been revised downward, while the approval for such advertisements now lay with the local council.
“The power of approval now lies with the council, not the State Planning Authority as done previously. In addition, the procedure to acquire the advertisement licences is now easy.”
Meanwhile, Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Datuk James Chan said starting next year, advertisement companies would have to register with MBKS as his office would only deal with those who are registered.
“In order to fight illegal advertising, we have to resort to this policy. It is unfair to those who are paying for the advertising fees.
” Chan added that MBKS enforcement officers had done their best to take down illegal advertising around the city, and pointed out that Kuching was among the best in this matter when compared to other cities in the country.