Thursday, July 18, 2013

Residential panels to link local authorities and urban folks

The Star
Published: Thursday July 18, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM 
Updated: Thursday July 18, 2013 MYT 7:40:27 AM



PUTRAJAYA: People living in the urban areas will have their own residential committees to look into their common welfare by next year, says Urban Well­being, Housing and Local Government Minis­ter Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
He said the Residents’ Representative Committees (JPP) would be similar to the Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK) set up in the villages.
“A proposal paper will be presented to the Cabinet by next month. It will be an equivalent to the JKKK, where the chairman will be paid an allowance by the Government and he will take care of his own residential area,” he said yesterday.
Abdul Rahman said that currently, there was no formal structure linking residents and the local authorities to look into the welfare of urban folks.
Asked if the JPP’s role was similar to that of the Residents’ Association (RA), he said that the RA did not have formal relationships with the local authorities.
On whether the JPP duties would overlap with local councillors’ role, Abdul Rahman said the latter’s role were too general and did not represent any constituencies.
“With the JPP, its chairman will sit in the Residents’ Representatives Council meetings and could bring up issues such as drainage, electricity, safety and crime.
“It will be a formal channel for the people to voice their opinions and complaints,” he added.
He said the number of JPP members to be appointed nationwide and the size of each JPP would be decided later.

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