Pahang against govt’s move to implement new village committee

The Pahang government will not hesitate to revive the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) should the Federal Government go ahead with its plan to introduce the Federal Village Community Management Council (MPKKP) system.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the state government strongly opposed the setting up of MPKKP as it could split up villagers, especially Malays.

“When Pakatan Harapan took over the Federal Government, it introduced the Village Community Management Council (MPKK) to replace the JKKK.

“Following that, the Pahang government led by Barisan Nasional agreed to it and formed 542 MPKK in the state.

“Abiding by the Cabinet’s decision on the Barisan states of Pahang and Perlis, our state government is willing to accept five representatives from Pakatan to be members of each MPKK,” he said.

However, Wan Rosdy said the state government had yet to receive nominations from Pakatan and thus the MPKK had not been filled up to 18 members each.

He also denied Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Fuziah Salleh’s statement that the state government had agreed to her proposal on the MPKK membership.

Fuziah, who is also Pahang Pakatan chief, reportedly said the state government had failed to respect the early negotiation to have the MPKK filled with a majority of each party’s members in parliamentary constituencies held by their respective parties.

While Wan Rosdy admitted that Fuziah had made the proposal when they met in early September last year, he and his colleagues present had never agreed or committed to it.

“Therefore, it is unreasonable for Fuziah to say we agreed. This is akin to putting words into one’s mouth or telling us to accept without questioning what she proposed.

“I hope Fuziah will stop beating around the bush on this matter and use the appropriate channels like the state government has done in accepting and implementing the Cabinet’s decision on MPKK membership,” said Wan Rosdy.

Fuziah announced recently that the MPKKP system would come into effect on Jan 1 with a total of 542 councils in Pahang.

She said with the establishment of the council in the four Opposition states of Pahang, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu, the current MPKK would cease to receive federal grants.

Fuziah said Pakatan was initially avoiding a repeat of the previous system of Federal Village Development and Security Committee (JKKKP) in Opposition-run states but after one year, the MPKK were allegedly involved in political activities, leaving the Pakatan government with no choice.

I hope Fuziah will use the appropriate channels like the state government has done in accepting and implementing the Cabinet’s decision on MPKK membership. Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail