People to know their local councils under star rating

STA, January 19, 2008

PETALING JAYA: Ratepayers will soon know how good their local councils are when the star rating system is implemented in the next three months.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said the country’s top 38 local authorities will be the first to be rated by a special team.

The councils to be rated first are those that have achieved city or municipal status. The other local authorities will be rated later.

Ong said the evaluation team would consist of officials from his ministry and the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit.

The star rating was introduced as a means to measure the performance and efficiency of local authorities, particularly their delivery system.

“Local authorities with three- to five-star rating will be re-evaluated every two years while those with one or two stars will be evaluated every year and be given necessary guidance,” he said at the launching of the book Counselling Local Councils here yesterday.

Urban planning: Ong launching the book Counselling Local Councils while Dr Goh looks on yesterday.

The book by Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman vice-principal Dr Goh Ban Lee is a collection of observations and suggestions for the good governance of local authorities.

Dr Goh is an urban planner and also a former Penang municipal councillor.

Ong said with the rating system in place, local authorities would be more mindful of their performance and obligation to the public.

“I hope to see some positive results from this new initiative in due course,” he said.

On the installation of CCTVs at crime-prone areas under the jurisdiction of 25 local councils, Ong said the move was one of the 23 steps under the Safe City Concept, which had started since last year, to improve safety.

“We will cooperate with the police and they will tell us the places which are desperately in need of CCTVs,” he said.