FT Minister: UMNO appointees on DBKL Advisory Board have to go

KUALA LUMPUR (July 5): Advisory Board members of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) who were politically appointed must step down as Barisan Nasional is no longer in power in Putrajaya.

Those who came on board with the “UMNO ticket” should resign, Bernama reported Federal Territory Minister Khalid Abdul Samad saying yesterday during a media conference in his office in Putrajaya yesterday.  

"All MPs in Kuala Lumpur should be given a proper role in DBKL because they were elected by the people in the 14th General Election.

"This decision was taken after discussions with MPs in Kuala Lumpur who complained that many DBKL projects were implemented without their knowledge although they represented constituents of the area," Khalid said.

"If the present politically appointed members do not step down, I will ask the mayor not to use the present advisory board.

"We will form our own committee comprising selected MPs that would replace the role of the advisory board," The Star reported Khalid saying at the same media conference.  

"Similarly, the political appointees in the Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) advisory board will also be reviewed.

"We will also discuss and review the basis and contracts in YWP," The Star reported him saying.

Khalid also said that the issue of local elections have to be studied in a holistic manner, reported Malaysiakini.

"We need to make sure that when we implement it, we can implement it in a manner which will not create any misunderstanding.

"It is not something we don't want to do, but this is something that we will do when the timing and situation is right, because there is a lot of issues which have made it a sensitive issue in our society," the news portal reported Khalid saying.

As for the KL Draft City Plan 2020, Khalid said it may be gazetted before the end of the year, reported The Malaysian Insight. 

“The plan will be gazetted soon and we will try to ensure that it will be kept to its original blueprint.

“There are areas which have been amended so we have to look into that,” he said.