THE Penang government has approved the appointment of its councillors for both its local councils, Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) recently.
State Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jason H’ng Mooi Lye said more than 50% are new faces for the new term, which runs from October 1 2023 to 31 December 2023.
According to H’ng, there will be 12 new faces for MBPP, and 13 new faces for MBSP. They also include three representatives from Umno.
“During our exco meeting which took place on Sept 27, we have approved the appointment of 22 councillors for MBPP and 23 councillors for MBSP for the new term, starting from October 1 2023 to 31 December 2023,” H’ng said during a press conference held on Sept 28 at the MBSP Tower in Bandar Perda.
H’ng said that the nominations for the Umno representatives have not been received so far. (during the time of announcement)
“Once the nominations are received, the approval for the appointment of the three representatives will be carried out separately so as to complete the total number of councillors for both the local councils,” he said.
Apart from that, H’ng also said that the exco meeting has also approved increasing the monthly fixed allowances for the councillors from RM2,500 to RM4,000.
It is learned that allowance was last reviewed in 2016.
“The meeting allowance will be also increased from RM1,500 to RM1,700 for a maximum number of meetings of 17 times, while the number of telephone allowance will remain at RM300,” he said.
H’ng also affirmed that the performances of the respective councillors will be monitored in accordance with the KPI (key performance indicator).
“We want the councillors appointed by the state government to be able to commit themselves to the people and carry out their duty with integrity,” he added.
Story & Pix by Tanushalini Moroter