Integrity forum for councillors

June 16, 2015

Councillors are the go-to person to ease residents’ troubles and the voice of the people as mediator between them and the local council.

And when a councillor is not approachable, not trustworthy and honest with the people, residents would lose faith in them.

To ensure that councillors understood their roles and responsibilities and with integrity in their duty, the first integrity programme was organised.

The programme called ‘Strengthening and Good Governance’ was run in a the form of a three-hour forum, with the aim of making integrity a culture in the lives of people, create awareness on the practice of ethics and integrity to foster good relations with the community.

It was organised by the Malaysian Institute of Integrity with the help of the integrity unit, state secretary’s office and the State Integrity Institute.

However, the forum drew poor response and saw the attendance of less than the expected 288 councillors from the 12 local councils.

When launching the forum, Selangor state secretary Datuk Mohammed Khusrin Munawi asked councillors to ensure they and their local councils provided the best service for the people.

“As local councils, your focus should be on helping the community and giving them the best service.

“The role of a councillors is heavy and important. You must take up this role not solely to fulfil your needs but the needs of the community,” he said.

Moderators and speakers were elected to highlight issues regarding integrity in finance and management in a local council.

Leading the forum was Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy chief commissioner Datuk Mustafar Ali.

Among the speakers were Malaysian Institute of Integrity deputy president Dr Ahmad Fadzli Ahmad Tajuddin, National Audit Department Selangor division director Ang Nai Har, and former Petaling Jaya mayor Datin Alinah Ahmad.

The forum with three speakers highlighted the need for councillors to contribute constructive ideas to the local councils to improve services in all levels and to act as middleman to channel feedback from the community to local councils.

The speakers also encouraged them to review their role as councillors, by coming up with strategies for the local councils to raise questions when in doubt.

Dr Ahmad briefed councillors on the fight against corruption, fraud and abuse of power while Ang shared past financial findings from local councils and showed examples of poor planning and expenditure that drowned money down the drain.

Alinah said councillors should also come up with ideas in their respective areas and policies for the benefit of the people and to know the local council laws.

Sepang councillor Dr Teo Lian Seng questioned why local councils still did not have proper procedures when giving out contracts to companies.