Letter to editor
THERE have been reports recently about the Selangor government’s intention of changing village headmen and the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) members.
Many of them have been holding the positions for too long and have nothing constructive anymore to contribute, hence there is an urgent need for changing of the guard. Term limits are also essential for local government.
With the absence of local government elections as previously promised by the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration, an effective and pro-active line-up then becomes crucial if developments and progress are to continue for the benefit of Selangorians and not for vested interests.
New villages and traditional kampung need good administration to ensure that the needs and expectations of their residents are given top priority. Many of the village heads and JKKK members have outlived their usefulness and need to be replaced.
Many of them have been around since they were appointed in 2008 when the PH took over Selangor and have continued to hold their positions despite complaints of not being helpful to the residents and ratepayers.
To be frank, selected local government appointees such as JKKK members cannot be effective as elected members could be.
This is the main reason why the JKKKs have to give way when confronted with opposition or indifference from the municipal authorities when it comes to lobbying for development projects, wastage reduction and unnecessary expenditure as well as other municipal issues.
MPs and state assembly representatives need to recommend capable and active residents for the village administration and instead of just their cronies and party supporters who are mostly yes-man and have nothing dynamic to offer or those who are only keen to make hay while the sun shines!
New blood essential
Most of the local government problems such as insanitary conditions, flooding, unkempt public areas, spread of disease, lack of supervision of contractors and eateries, poor maintenance of facilities and amenities, among others in Selangor can be traced to inefficient and incompetent village leaders and JKKK members.
Members of the JKKK need to be multi-racial to reflect the demographics of the villages and should not be mostly Malay or Chinese but include others as well even if they are a negligible minority.
Presently, there are two JKKKs in Selangor – one appointed by the Selangor PH government which began in 2008 and the other called the Federal JKKK which was appointed by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government prior to it losing power in Selangor.
The Federal government then was in BN hands, hence another layer of JKKKs was added to ensure that BN maintained a political presence in the state. There is no need for two JKKKs, thus a merger and streamlining of both JKKKs is necessary to enhance efficiency and to reduce expenses.
With a lot of development at village level in recent times – mostly haphazard and unplanned – going on a more proficient group of JKKKs can ensure a better scheme of things.
Some JKKKs comprise negative and questionable characters and it is time to weed them out to enable a more respectable membership.
It is also hoped that in the new line-up of village administrators, there will not be any re-cycling of past committee members.
New membership of JKKKs should be open to all to enable those interested in wanting to contribute to the community to come forward.
Appointment of JKKK members should not be a secretive and closed-door affair like before with the best and competent residents should be recruited to enable local government to be dynamic and transformative so as to enable long-suffering residents and ratepayers to expect hope and change with the new line-up. – Nov 7, 2023
V. Thomas
Sungai Buloh
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
