Council meetings now open to public

Johor exco wants BN reps to attend as well

PONTIAN: All full council meetings in Johor will now be open to the public, says state executive councillor Tan Hong Pin.

He hopes the councils will also be proactive and broadcast their meetings via Facebook live or on social media.

“The days when everything was done behind closed doors are over.

“I want an overhaul of the system and I also intend to put all Barisan Nasional elected representatives as observers,” he told The Star.

Tan revealed that when he was elected as a state assemblyman in GE13, he was not allowed to attend any full council meeting.

“I will not do what they did to me in the past. We want the councils to engage with the people. I also urge all media journalists to cover the full council meetings held once a month,” he said.

Tan also welcomes suggestions from the public on ways to improve the councils’ delivery system.

Johor has 15 local councils.

Asked about the appointment of local councillors, Tan said there were 360 vacancies statewide.

“Each of the Pakatan Harapan parties will submit their list for councillors.

“I hope to fill up all the vacancies by end of June,” he said, adding that each council needs a minimum of eight councillors to function.

The number of councillors from a particular component party, he said, would be based on its election performance.

Asked if they would be given a pay increase, Tan said all that would be done in the next phase.

“Now we want council matters to proceed with integrity and transparency,” he said, adding that councillors who do not perform will be dropped.