Saturday, 26 June 2010 09:51 |Posted New Sarawak Tribune
“Having
been a PMC councillor for a number of years, I am well aware of the many
difficulties that one would encounter in the management of the council”
LO KHERE CHIANG
KUCHING: Lo Khere Chiang, 50, was sworn in as the 17th chairman of Padawan Municipal Council (PMC) yesterday. He will serve a two-year term effective June 21 this year.
Lo, an engineer by profession, took his oath of office and then signed a Letter of Appointment before Assistant Minister of Environment Datuk Peter Nansian who represented Second Minister of Finance and Minister of Public Health and Environment Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh.
In his acceptance speech, Lo thanked Chief Minister Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, and leaders of SUPP and other state BN component parties for their trust and confidence in appointing him as the PMC chairman.
He also said he would work hard like all his predecessors in setting a high standard in the way they administered the council, and that he would follow in their footsteps to ensure that the people in the PMC jurisdiction would be well served.
“Having been a PMC councillor for a number of years, I am well aware of the many difficulties that one would encounter in the management of the council.
“Many of the challenges arise, in part, from the vastness of the Padawan area - 1,431.83 square km in total – its population mix, and also its unique mix of urban, semirural and rural composition. It has a population of about 306,000 made up of Bidayuh, Chinese, Malay and Iban.
“On top of all these, the council has limited resources. It only has some 60,000 holdings which contribute RM19,637,500 in revenue or 53.55 percent of the total revenue of RM36,671,780. Tax payers, on the other hand are demanding more and better services.” The council’s main source of income is assessment rates which stand at RM15 million (based on 2005 figure).
He, however, expressed his confidence that with the full support from all the councillors, community leaders, government agencies, council staff and the local people, the council would be able to deliver high quality services to the people based on the concept of ‘1Malaysia – People First, Performance Now’.
Wong (Soon Koh), whose text of speech was read by Nansian, meanwhile said the roles of the chairman and councillors in managing the PMC were vital to ensure that all policies that had been formulated and decision made were accurate and relevant with the current situation and needs.
“I, therefore, urge all the councillors to equip and prepare themselves to become leaders who are dynamic, visionary, knowledgeable and full of integrity.” He was confident that under Lo’s leadership, the PMC would continue to move forward and provide good municipality services to all the people in its jurisdiction.
The swearing-in ceremony, held at the council chamber in Kota Padawan, was also attended by Lo’s predecessor, Tan Joo Phoi, who has been made Assistant Minister of Environment, Dr Penguang Manggil the permanent secretary to the Ministry of Environment and Public Health, PMC deputy chairman Haji Mohd Hashim Yap, secretary Michael Saweng, Datuk Alfred Yap Chin Loi (another former PMC chairman), councillors and community leaders.
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