Highlight a place to call home - BorneoTalk Official Website

Soul City
Responsive
and
responsible
council
Padawan Municipal Council
strives to engage with local
community through Resident
Councillorship System
Padawan Municipal Council is
one of three major councils
serving Sarawak’s Capital
City, Kuching. As one of the biggest
municipality in area, Padawan
Municipal Council (MPP) is also one
of the fastest growing in terms of
residential, commercial and industrial
properties over the past few
years. This has brought about the
realization that it cannot be business
as usual for MPP!
“We have realised from our studies
and projections of growth in MPP
that we would be unable to provide
the necessary municipal services
and infrastructure requirements
if we continued working the way
we were,” said Lo Khere Chiang,
Chairman MPP. “We would simply
be overwhelmed by the sheer
number of developments planned
and approved under MPP area of
jurisdiction. More developments
means more people will be residing
in MPP area. So, a solution had to
be put in place in anticipation of the
demands and expectations from the
ratepayers. Thus, it was collectively
agreed to form the Resident
Councillorship System in 2009 which
focused on community participation
and engagement in community
activities.”
“Each housing estate or village
under MPP will have its Community
Consultative Committee (CCC)
which will be headed by a Resident
Councillor who work together with
the local community to solve issues
arising in that area,” the Chairman
explained.
“As there are more areas than our
number of councillors in MPP, some
of us have to shoulder more than
one area or ward,” Lo added. “To
assist the Resident Councillors, we
also appointed an Area Officer in
each ward and whose responsibilities
include collecting relevant data
of the area, accompany Resident
Councillor during site visits and
acting as focal person in the area.
PADAWAN MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
Kota Padawan, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.
Tel: +6082 615566 Fax: +6082 611832
Email: mpp@tm.net.my
Website: www.mpp.gov.my
In this way, MPP hopes to be able
to better serve each ward and has
closer contact with all residents,”
he said.
In practice, the system has been
well accepted by the residents as
issues arising from each particular
area can be quickly identified and
brought to the attention of MPP for
answers and solutions. The Chairman
noted that the responsibilities of
these Resident Councillors are heavy
and challenging but are necessary
to establish the close relationships
with residents. He also noted
that over time, residents too have
become more responsive to the
system and are active participants
in the sustainable development of
their areas. These successes and
continuous investments in MPP point
to the conclusion that Padawan is an
area much favoured by people.
Apr-Jun2012BorneoTalk | 21