‘Service delivery means putting people first’
Penguang (fifth right) leads the cake-cutting ceremony. Joining him are (from right) Minos, Lo, Miro, Ranum, Henry and others.
Penguang (centre) performs the symbolic launch of the QR Code for Bau District Council’s bulletin. With him on stage are (from right) Miro, Ranum, Henry and Wong.
BAU: Local councils should migrate to a new mentality of ‘implementing what the people want’, instead of ‘implementing what the councils want’.
Assistant Minister of Local Government Datu Dr Penguang Manggil believes that such mindset is necessary in addressing today’s challenges and also in measuring up to the people’s rising expectations.
According to him, local councils are the first level of the three-tier of governance – one that implements policies on grassroots level and is also directly involved in providing services to the people within their respective areas of jurisdiction.
“It is an undeniable fact that a local council is the government agency that is closest to the people, as it provides various municipal services such as waste management, provision and maintenance of public facilities and basic infrastructures, licensing (of local sales and services), taxation, environmental cleanliness, public health control and many others.
“Law implementation-enforcement is the most important factor. The task and responsibility of enforcing law must not be limited to just going after illegal hawkers or unlicensed premises, but also covering enforcement on development plan, environmental issues and the latest, controlling the spread of rabies in areas declared as rabies-infected,” he said during Bau District Council’s annual dinner and pre-Christmas gathering at Bau Civic Centre on Sunday.
Tasik Biru assemblyman Dato Henry Harry Jinep, Opar assemblyman Dato Ranum Mina, Serembu assemblyman Miro Simuh, Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang who is also Padawan Municipal Council chairman, and Kota Samarahan Municipal Council chairman Dato Peter Minos were among those in attendance.
On a related matter, Penguang also called upon local councils to be efficient in their financial management and strive to look for new sources of income.
He pointed out the importance for a local council to be financially independent and able to implement projects and programmes slated for the benefit of the local population.
“Now is the time for local councils to go beyond cleanliness and collection of waste; they are also to play a role in attracting domestic and foreign investments, in order to increase the revenues so as to not be dependent on state and federal governments.
“With a systematic management system, this should enable the councils to be more efficient and effective in their service deliveries,” he said.
The dinner also held the launch of the ‘QR Code’ for Bau District Council’s bulletin.
Penguang said he was confident that Bau District Council – under the leadership of council secretary Simon Wong – would continue to have strategic planning to ensure better service delivery.
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