fz.com, Nov 13, 2013
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Abdul Khalid said the MPKj councillors should return to work. |
SHAH ALAM (Nov 13): Get back to work! That is the order by Selangor
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to the 23 councillors of the
Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj).
The council has been operating on autopilot since August following a
show of no confidence against council president Datuk Hasan Nawawi Abd
Rahman.
Councillors have walked out of the full board meeting saying they will not continue to serve until Hasan is removed.
They moved a no-confidence motion against the administration on Aug
24 and on Oct 9, proposed a motion to remove Hasan who has been
president since 2007.
They claimed abuse of power, non-co-operative civil servants and
dubious management procedures as among the reasons they do not have
faith in the administration.
It has been confirmed that Hasan had unlawfully given a RM10 million discount to developers, causing ratepayers to lose revenue.
It is learnt that Hasan, in retaliation, is threatening to “expose”
10 councillors who had sought or benefitted from council contracts.
At a meeting in his office here on Monday, Abdul Khalid told the
councillors to return to work and convene the monthly full board meeting
at the end of the month.
According to sources, he promised to monitor Hasan for three
months, following which if his performance is not up to par, he will be
transferred out.
Hasan’s contract expires on his 59th birthday on Dec 9, but is expected to fulfil the full term allowed, when he turns 60.
“There is little action that the MB can take against Hasan,” said a source.
“How can you remove a council president just based on a two-page complaint that does not go into specifics?” he added.
Yesterday, fz.com revealed that a major reshuffle of senior council staff, including presidents may be in the cards as a solution to the impasse.
However, it is believed that Hasan will not budge as there was no
ill-will or corrupt intentions on his part when he gave the discount.
Hence, he may get off with a mere slap on the wrist.
Whether this will appease the councillors remains to be seen.
However, they are in dereliction of duties for refusing to perform
their tasks as the approving authority. Hence, it is learnt that some of
them will not be renewed when their term expires on Dec 31.
Meanwhile, the question for Abdul Khalid is, why not invoke the
proper procedures under the Local Government Act and the Standing Orders
to convene an investigation to penalise Hasan?
What has been established is that he did breach the law by issuing the discount.
And as far as the contract-seeking councillors are concerned, there
is no law to prevent them from benefitting from council tenders.
The only issue is if they had declared their interests and left the room when the project concerned was discussed.
Abdul Khalid will not have it easy at the post-exco meeting press conference this afternoon.
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