Twenty-two new councillors were sworn in at the Ipoh City Council Hall along Jalan Sultan Abdul Jalil, at 9am on Monday, July 30.
The breakdown is as follows: Four from Bersatu, four from Amanah, four from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and 10 from DAP.
Present at the swearing-in were Perak State Executive Councillor for Housing and Local Government, Public Transport, Non-Muslim Affairs and New Villages, Yong Choo Kiong and Ipoh Mayor, Dato’ Zamri bin Man.
In a brief press conference that followed, Yong said that the remaining two seats will be filled by non-governmental organisation candidates.
“We’ve two names in mind. They were not sworn in today because there was a delay in sending out appointment letters. They should be sworn in before the council’s first full board meeting. Hopefully within the week,” he added.
“This is a diverse group of councillors, from different races, genders and age groups,” said Wong Kah Woh, Member of Parliament for Ipoh East.
Yong agreed, saying that the different ages will benefit the council as the older councillors have more experience, while the younger councillors are more active, physically.
Yong also said that the councillors have two pressing matters to handle, namely, cleanliness and street lights. “We’ve received many complaints regarding dark streets. We will look at putting up 1000 new streetlights, as well as look at maintaining broken street lights,” he added.
Dato’ Zamri added that each street light costs anywhere between RM200 to RM300.
“Some street lights just need a new bulb, and some of them need to be built from scratch. Whatever it is, we will closely be working with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) to ensure that the people’s needs are fulfilled,” he said.
Asked for a timespan, Yong said that there is no fixed time.
“It’ll be an ongoing effort, not just for a certain period of time,” he remarked.
Yong added that his hopes for the newly-elected council is abundant.
“Be honest, and be committed to your job,” he urged them. Besides council matters, Yong talked about his ideas for a better Perak.
“The idea to introduce an e-parking system, where vehicle owners will no longer have to purchase parking tickets is in the works. The app should be introduced sometime next year,” he said.
“We’re not completely scrapping the printed parking tickets. Vehicle owners will have the option of either e-parking or printed tickets. Besides the tickets, we also need to standardise parking fees in all 15 zones here in Perak,” he added.
Yong stated that he would like to see more heritage sites at various locations in Perak, naming Tronoh as a possible example.
Below is the list of the new Ipoh City Council. Their term ends on July 14, 2019.
Major Kamaruddin bin Abdul Aziz (Rtd) Puteri Holijah binti Muhamad Rali Arifin bin Mohammad Rafi’i Mohammad bin Sharof Ahmad Khair Faizal bin Yahaya Shamsul Effendy bin Abdul Rahim Mohammad Ridzuan bin Jamaluddin Chin Yew Kien Selvam Kunjambu Zuraidah binti Zakaria Norhayati binti Sani Lee Tze Hoo Tiw Tee Siang Wong Kar Kit Aldrin Ng @ Wu Yau Zhuin Ngo Kok Foong Shahari Anuary bin Ibrahim Wong Hon Long Lim Mei Hiang Chin Yee Hing Ganesan a/l Athinarayanan Chan Wei Sum
Loshni Nair
