Nine new faces on DBKL advisory board ‘not so new’, says pressure group
Soo Wern Jun
-December 22, 2018 12:29 PM
FMT
Civil society groups have questioned the process of appointments to the DBKL advisory board.PETALING JAYA: The new Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) advisory board lineup is still lacking in civil society representation, according to Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur (SKL) deputy chairman M Ali.
While he congratulated the Kuala Lumpur mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan for appointing new members to the DBKL advisory board, he questioned the process of the appointments.
(DBKL) recently named nine new faces to the advisory board.
Ali claimed the “new faces” were not entirely new, as some were “somehow related” to DBKL previously.
“What happened to the representation of actual Kuala Lumpur-concerned citizens, including the residents’ associations, physically challenged community and single mothers?
“The current lineup seem to look like just another voice for developers, with developer-friendly or developer-associated representation, apart from several political nominees who are still present.
“This is the very reason we at Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur have been asking or demanding for the implementation of local council elections.
“The change in government, post May 9 polls, has not effectively addressed some of the salient issues. We strongly feel that DBKL will turn out to be ‘business as usual’,” Ali told FMT.
Ali claimed the present advisory board included people who were involved in drafting the Draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020 (KLCP 2020) which, he said, was approved despite 273 violations.
“Thus, we are of the strong opinion that the upcoming drafting of the Kuala Lumpur Structural Plan 2040 and the Draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2040 would likely end up the same as the ill-approved KLCP 2020 recently.
“DBKL, please wake up and review the appointments as there must be a cross-section of representation. We emphasise on the importance of working towards local council elections!” Ali added.
It was reported that in the past more than half the advisory board members, appointed by the previous Barisan Nasional administration, were political appointees representing the then ruling coalition.
Based on the Rules and Regulations of the Advisory Board of the City of Kuala Lumpur 1989, the advisory board must have 15 members, with the federal territories ministry, finance ministry and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) having one representative each, as well as two representatives from the Selangor state government.
The remaining advisory board members must be equipped with knowledge of local government issues and be professionals with expertise in commerce or industry to represent the needs and interests of the local community.
The executive director of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) Cynthia Gabriel said the new lineup looked as though the current FT Minister had not learned from the mistakes of the former minister.
“Look what happened with Ku Nan (Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor) and DBKL (land sales) under his watch?
“It goes back to the need for a local council election. First start with the mayor, and then include officers who are at decision making roles,” Cynthia told FMT.
She suggested that the best way to select the advisory board members was through a transparent and accountable process.
“Changing faces but keeping the same appointment system will render the advisory board vulnerable to corruption and abuse of power,” she said.
Last month, Tengku Adnan had claimed trial at the Sessions Court to two counts of corruption under Section 165 of the Penal Code. He was accused of receiving RM3 million in total over the sale of DBKL land when he was FT minister
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