Residents Representative Committee has Political Aims and to Seize Power from Local Authorities

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KUALA LUMPUR, 7 Nov: The Residents Representative Committee (JPP) which was established by the federal government to support community development programmes is deemed to have political aims and attempts a coup from the state government and local authorities.

Member of Parliament for Bayan Baru, Sim Tze Tzin, said that the function of the JPP which is proposed by the central government is similar to the duties of council members and may be in violation of the Constitution.

He said that the JPP which is concentrated in urban areas will target local authorities in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state and may be aimed at competing with council members appointed by the state government.

“The establishment of the JPP was decided after Barisan Nasional (BN) failed to win the majority vote from the population of urban areas during the 13th General Election.

“We suspect that the federal government wants to centralise power by establishing the JPP as ‘Appointed Council Members of the Federal Government’ which is clearly in contradiction with the Constitution because local authorities are under the jurisdiction of the state government.

“I urge for the local government and state government to take not on this initiative,” he said in a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

He said that it would be better is the government allows for the implementation of local government elections to be held to give a larger mandate to the administration of local authorities.

He said that the election will be guaranteed to make existing council members more effective in administration and municipality.

“The establishment of the JPP is just a waste of time and provisions because it would limit the power of local authorities, which are actually under the jurisdiction of the state government. The federal government should take heed that the power of local authorities lies under the state government and avoid from breach of power,” he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced a budget allocation of RM63 million to set up 24 JPP zones in every local authority on 2 October.

The JPP will act as a single entity consisting of representatives of the local community to support community development programmes, while addressing urban issues in local authority areas, and the latest initiative is the result of feedback indicating that most of the urban population do not clearly understand government funded programmes during the GE-13.


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