Strengthen engagement with community, MPP councillors told

Strengthen engagement with community, MPP councillors told

                            Lo (second right) presents the excellence award to a recipient.

KUCHING: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) councillors are urged to work harder in terms of community engagement and get to know the people so that the community can be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the council.

Upon their recent appointment as councillors, there is no reason for the people not to recognise the councillors in their areas or not to have their personal phone numbers, Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian said.

“I don’t want to hear people say that ‘I live here but I don’t know who the councillors are’,” said Dr Sim at the MPP appreciation and 23rd anniversary celebration at a hotel here on Saturday night.

“This is important because in the future, who knows, we will have local government election,” he added.

At the same time, he reminded the council to continue to improve municipal services especially in times of need.

One of the services includes having traffic wardens available to help ease the traffic jam at Mile 4 and Mile 7, and assist the traffic police.

Another suggestion would be to have more CCTVs and smart cameras installed so that residents could feel more safe, he said.

He added that he had asked the ministry for budget to purchase bodycam for the council’s enforcement team to record evidence needed, should a bullying complaint arise, and to be more efficient in enforcement.

Earlier, council chairman Lo Khere Chiang said as he had been with the council for 10 years, his goal was to improve the quality of life of the people in the municipality.

At the same time, he expressed confidence that the new and re-appointed councillors could contribute to the betterment of the council and residents.

He thanked Dr Sim for channelling development funds to the council and working closely with the council for the betterment of the people.

Speaking on projects, he said 226 were implemented last year and 241 would be implemented this year.

At the event, Dr Sim presented RM10,000 to Kelab MPP for its activities