SIBU: A proposal to appoint full-time chairmen for the district councils would be brought up to the state Cabinet soon, said Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil.
“Politically appointed, the full-time district council chairmen who are close to the community are expected to be able to lead the respective district councils in bringing better services to the people.
“The chairmen had always been district officers who unlike before, have a lot of other duties and responsibilities.
“I think we should move forward along that line because the councils nowadays have much more challenges, duties and responsibilities than before and thus the requirement for full-time chairmen,” he told the press after his ministry’s the ‘Engagement with Stakeholder Central Zone Local Government’ programme here today.
According to Penguang, who is also Marudi assemblyman, the Marudi District Council is the only one that has a full-time chairman at the moment.
“It makes a lot of difference as a full time-chairman has the commitment and vision to see what he has planned for the last few years and to see through what the council wants to do for a better life for people in the rural areas,” he stressed.
Apart from that, his ministry is also exploring the possibility of revenue re-engineering to increase funds for the councils.
On the open spaces given for the councils to look after, he said the councils could apply to alienate them so that they could do whatever deemed necessary, such as building a car park, trading places, stalls or public venues which could generate revenue for them. – BERNAMA
