Uggah heads committee to select new councillors
It is hoped that the new batches of councillors will be more focused, hands-on and decisive in dealing with many of the issues commonly faced by the councils, especially waste collections and management, grasscutting, road and drains maintenance. — Datu Dr Penguang Manggil, Assistant Minister of Local Government
SIBU: A committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah will finalise the new list of councillors in due course.
According to Assistant Minister of Local Government Datu Dr Penguang Manggil, the committee would comprise members from all Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) component parties.
He said this when asked yesterday if the names for the new batches of councillors had been finalised.
The term for the current batch of councillors in all 24 local councils, excluding Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) and Bintulu Development Authority (BDA), in Sarawak has been extended until June 30, next year.
The present term expires on Dec 31, after being extended from an earlier deadline of June 30.
Penguang said: “It is hoped that the new batches of councillors will be more focused, hands-on and decisive in dealing with many of the issues commonly faced by the councils, especially waste collections and management, grass-cutting, road and drains maintenance.”
Each local authority in Sarawak has a maximum of 32 councillors.
On whether the new term would again include representation from nongovernmental organisations, he said the policy formulated several years ago would still stand.
Sibu Municipal Council chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King, meanwhile, told a full council meeting last Friday that the term for SMC councillors would expire in June 2019.
He said the Ministry of Local Government and Housing had issued a letter to discriminate the decision of Sarawak Cabinet Meeting on the extension of term for local councillors for another six months, from Jan 1, 2019.