The main reason parliamentary constituencies in the Federal Territory are suffering from bad maintenance is due to the inability of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to effectively manage and cater to the demands of the more than three million people in the city, said Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.
“The City Hall is incapable of looking after Kuala Lumpur because of its limited staff. I think City Hall should be cut into half or split into three parts. In Selangor (by comparison), we have a population of more than 5.7 million and we have 12 local councils,” said Kok, who is also the state assemblywoman of Kinrara.
Kok told fz.com this in an exclusive interview on the Face to Face programme today, when asked on the constraints in attending to her constituents’ problems.
She said that due to the limitations of City Hall, it is unable to maintain the Seputeh parliamentary constituency when it comes to everyday requests such as covering potholes on roads, cutting grass and trimming trees.
There have been occasions when the requests were ignored for so long that she was forced to fork out her own money to do so.
“I have to ‘pakat’ (get together) with the contractors and ask them to tar the road for me. Then I put up the banner ‘I tarred the road’ and sent the picture to the mayor,” said Kok.
Kok also spoke on the strength of the women vote in the next general election.
“Half of the population are women and women play a decisive role in electing the government. Women have also played the supporting role and women members are also more loyal to the party,” said Kok, citing the example of Wanita Umno who stood by the party when some male members shifted to the opposition in 2008.
Too many hats
She also refuted rumours of a rift within DAP – between her and other DAP leaders – by those who questioned her for wearing too many hats.
“I have never taken any land and have never done anything with conflict of interest. Look at the prime minister – he is the president of Umno, chairman of Barisan Nasional, head of BN Selangor, Minister of Finance, Minister of the Women and Family Development Ministry and he is the MP of Pekan. Why does nobody question him? Is it because I am a woman (I am being questioned)?” asked Kok in jest.
On a more serious note, Kok said that the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat is ready to run the nation and bring the necessary reforms should they come into power.
“We have lot of discussions and we are coming up with policies. If we come to power, it is a matter of ‘concretising’ them (policies),” said Kok. – fz. com
You are being too kind on DBKL. Having dealth with civil servants in Hong Kong and Singapore, DBKL staff compares very very poorly. Performance level aside, DBKL are seen to be BN tool, not necessarily in substance but by preception
It’s also no secret that City Hall is also carrying out collective punishment in opposition areas.
This in effect also meant punishment for pro BN residents living in these areas.
By right, by winning ten out of eleven parliamentary seats, PR should be running City Hall!!!
Not BN.
Just look at the 4 1/2 mile wet market in Jalan Klang Lama, KL and you’ll realise this.
The surrounding areas stink, especially that part near the flyover!
And have been so for as long as anyone can remember.
As for your wearing too many hats, there is some truth in it.
Especially when seen in the light of the many capable candidates around.
Perhaps something should be done to accommodate them.
We can do all the building and development we want. But ultimately the level of civilization is directly proportional to the distance between Man and his Garbage. If we are close to our garbage( means we are unabel to control it ) then our level of civilization is low. But is if we are far away from our gabage( means we are able to clean up the environment) then our level of civilization is high. If you travel around WP you will get a good picture of the level of our civilization. Thank You