Local Counsel - How are councils serving us better?

AS a general rule, the abolition of local government elections has given the state governments the exclusive power over the administration of local authorities. State governments have been responsible for the appointment of local councillors and mayors or presidents of the local authorities.
Only the administrative leaders of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, which are federal territories, are appointed by the federal government.
But this does not mean that the federal government has no role in the workings of local councils. There is the National Council for Local Government (NCLG). Although it has no direct role in the running of the local authorities, it can pass targets for them to achieve.
It is, therefore, heart-warming that the NCLG has come up with specific targets to be met by the local councils with the intention of serving the "rakyat" better.
The 70th NCLG meeting on Feb 23, 2016 promulgated a series of interesting and useful "thrusts" for the local councils to achieve.
The transformation plan dubbed the "PBT Di Hati Rakyat" in Bahasa Malaysia consists of six core elements aimed at helping the government to be more transparent and efficient in providing public services. They are human capital development, excellent services, financial strengthening, people's well-being, people's involvement and effective communication.
So far, there has been no news about the details of the transformation plan and whether the thrusts set by the ministry have been conveyed to the local authorities. The topics have not been discussed in the mass media.
There have been no newspaper reports about the local authorities' efforts to achieve the objectives of the plan, even though it is expected to take at least a year to be in place and will need a few years to see results.
The local authorities should be more transparent about the ways in which they are attempting to achieve the objectives of the plan. The residents of the towns and cities must also play their part if their children are to grow up in areas that are healthy, safe, clean and attractive.
George Town and Ipoh are two outstanding Malaysian cities, largely because of their interesting and historical built environments, and their tasty and relatively cheap food. In fact, Ipoh is ranked number six by Lonely Planet Best in Asia 2016.
The Unesco World Heritage titles have in a way boosted the popularity of George Town and Malacca.
But apart from delicious food and heritage sites, residents themselves can help achieve the objectives of the transformation plan by keeping their towns and cities clean and safe, and to abide by sensible traffic rules.
Generally, the towns and cities are still dirty. This is the result of indiscriminate dumping of waste. Consequently, many drains are clogged with rubbish. Worse, the smell is nauseating, especially in areas where the drains are covered with concrete slabs and iron grills for the use of pedestrians.
Many rivers are also polluted. For example, although Sungai Pinang is cleaner than before, it is still full of rubbish, especially at the river mouth. The water is not safe to bathe in.
Recently, in a daily, there was a front-page picture of the Sungai Kelang strewn with rubbish despite the fact that there was a "Love our River" campaign launched more than 10 years ago. This prompted the Natural Resource and Environmental Ministry to call on the Selangor state government and local authorities to work together to clean up the river.
The indiscriminate discarding of solid waste is not the only thing Malaysians do. Many also disregard traffic rules. For example, it is common to see motor vehicles parked at various bus stops in George Town, Penang. As a result, bus drivers have to stop their vehicles in the middle of the road, forcing vehicles behind to stop and wait.
Worse, motorcyclists often do not wait for the bus to move on. They just "squeeze" through the space between the bus shelter and the stationary bus while there are passengers trying to board the bus.
More importantly, although there are cheap and relatively comfortable buses, such as the Rapid buses in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, most people still use private cars to go to work, shopping or sight-seeing. Malaysians are too reliant on cars as a means of transport.
Lately, there has been a minor Cabinet reshuffle. Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, the former minister in charge of local government has been transferred to become minister in the Prime Minister's Department. His former post is now under Tan Sri Nor Omar.
Datuk Dr Goh Ban Lee is interested in urban governance, housing and urban planning. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com