Memo From APAC to :
Datuk Bandar MBPJ, Dato’ Haji Mohamad Roslan Bin Sakiman
CC copy to :
Y.A.B. Tan Sri Dato’ Abdul Khalid Bin Ibrahim, Dato’ Menteri Besar Negeri Selangor
YB Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew – ADUN PANDAMARAN
Exco - Jawatankuasa Tetap Kerajaan Tempatan, Kajian Dan Penyelidikan
YB Elizabeth Wong Keat Ping – ADUN BUKIT LANJAN
Exco - Jawatankuasa Tetap Pelancongan, Hal Ehwal Pengguna Dan Alam Sekitar
YB Puan Haniza Binti Mohamed Talha, ADUN TAMAN MEDAN
YB Tuan Edward Lee Poh Lin, ADUN BUKIT GASING
YB Tuan Lau Weng San, ADUN KAMPUNG TUNKU
YB Tuan Dr Cheah Wing Yin, ADUN DAMANSARA UTAMA
YB Tuan Dr Mohd. Nasir bin Hashim, ADUN KOTA DAMANSARA
YB Tuan Nik Nazmi Bin Nik Ahmad, ADUN SERI SETIA
YB Tuan Tony Pua Kiam Wee, PARLIMEN PETALING JAYA UTARA
YB Tuan Sivarasa a/l Rasiah, PARLIMEN SUBANG
YB Tuan Loh Gwo-Burne, PARLIMEN KELANA JAYA
YB Tuan Hee Loy Sian, PARLIMEN PETALING JAYA SELATAN
MBPJ Assessment Rate - An Appeal to Restore the rate @ 8%
(currently @ 8.8% an increased of 10% in 2006)
We, the residents of Petaling Jaya, do hereby submit an Appeal to MBPJ to restore the current Assessment Rate to the 2006 rate of 8%.
The Increase @ 10% in Assessment Rate in 2006 was imposed accordance to section 127 of the Local Government Act 1976 during the previous Barisan Nasional Administration whereby, the Public and APPAC at that juncture questioned MPPJ whether the increase was legal and valid.
1. It was imposed under much protest from PJ residents. MBPJ was demanded by APPAC (All Petaling Jaya Pro-Action Committee) to justify the Proposed Increased. (Please refer newspaper cuttings).
2. It came to light that a huge amount of rate payers’ money was siphoned to finance the then MBPJ Football Club and, Billboard owners also contributed millions into the coffers of MBPJ Football Club, leading to the mushrooming of illegal billboards in the City of Petaling Jaya.
3. Prior to 2006, MBPJ Budgets were prepared on a ‘top down’ instead of ‘bottom up’ basis. Ratepayers were disappointed and demanded that they should be consulted and their comments and/or proposals should be taken into account in drawing up the Annual Budget.
4. We even demanded that they disclose the Past Audited Accounts. When we scrutinised the Audited Accounts provided, we managed to find that the Auditor-General report for 1992 and 1995 for MPPJ indicated that there was RM60 million worth of Assets unaccounted for, 13 pieces of land that could not be located and, large sums of Assessment rates not collected amounting to approximately RM9 million since 1999.
5. For your information, ever since Pakatan Rakyat took over MBPJ in 2008, answers to the above are still not forthcoming.
Since March 2008, the Political Landscape has changed, and we were told by Pakatan Rakyat that CAT (Competency, Accountability and Transparency) will be practised in states governed by Pakatan Rakyat. (i.e. in our case, Selangor).
APAC (All Petaling Jaya, Selangor Residents’ Association Coalition) was impressed and very hopeful that the New Administration under Pakatan Rakyat will place the interest of all the Rakyat of Selangor in their hearts especially where money and Financial Integrity or propriety are concerned.
Lately, the 2008 Financial Crisis or Economic Crunch has by and large affected every individual or ratepayer in Petaling Jaya. We witnessed a drop in economic growth and Investment in Selangor, the rise in petrol price, electricity tariff, price increase of all essential goods such as cooking oil, sugar, rice etc, a drop in Fixed Deposit Interest Rate and stock market affected Pensioners and income earners.
The real purchasing power of the Ringgit has reduced significantly causing a lot of hardship to the Rakyat of Petaling Jaya. In short, everything seems to be going up daily and living is now becoming a BIG challenge to all ordinary Petaling Jaya residents, especially MBPJ Ratepayers.
We, APAC and residents and ratepayers of Petaling Jaya, wish to appeal to MBPJ to consider restoring the Assessment Rate to level of rates imposed prior to 2006 and to rescind the increased imposed in 2006 which we still believe is not valid and unjustifiable considering the circumstances then and now.
Our reasons for the Appeal are simple:
• The 2010 Budget recently tabled by MBPJ is still not properly done where the consultation process with residents or stakeholders was fast track with 2 or 3 days notice of meetings and dialogue or proper debate restricted to less than 2 hours for residents to voice their objections or proposals. Consultations for yearly Budgets should be done at least 6 months prior to year end and definitely not over a 2 or 3 hours affair. To make the sessions more productive, effective and efficient, it should be done over a period of 1 to 2 weeks stretch over a 6 months period before the year end, as normally prior year Budgets are already approved by the State for spending.
• The draft budget provided was not properly prepared where gross figures were given and for some, number of units budgeted were not given, giving rise to misunderstandings and/or confusion. The Draft should also include the 2009 Actual and Budget figures for comparison and comments. This would certainly assist us in the preparation of 2010 Budget. Annualized figures should also be presented to enable proper assessment and estimates.
• The Star Metro articles on “Budget not well prepared, say PJ residents” and “MBPJ budget draws flak” are enclosed and attached for your reference.
• The key weakness of the Council or MBPJ is that not all the appointed Councillors are financial savvy when it comes to drawing up the Budget. They do not understand the process which is, their respective Zone residents committee must be consulted and the respective MPP (Majlis Perwakilan Penduduk) Committees to draw proposals of maintenance and developments budget at their respective Zones. This sadly was not actively implemented at many Zones resulting in unbalanced and vast differences in budget figures.
• At the end of 2009, during the last full Board Meeting, it was discovered that a large sum of budgeted figures approved for 2009 was not expended resulting in a surplus budget.
• The current State Executive Officers, ADUNs, and Ahli Majlis of MBPJ who were supportive of the Objection to the Assessment rate increased in 2006 should now be consistent with their earlier stance, and follow through with a reduction in the Cukai Taksiran that they had advocated in 2006.
• The 2010 Budget could have been examined & debated in greater detail and easily accommodate a reduction of the Cukai Taksiran with more prudent expenditures and still maintaining the quality of service.
• MBPJ is not a profit making institution and with already a very healthy RM80 million Cash Reserve, it lends little justification for an increase in 2006 thus imposing an unnecessary burden on the rate payers.
As such, we the undersigned appeal to MBPJ, State Assemblyman (ADUNs) and Members of Parliament to seriously consider to restore the MBPJ Assessment rate to 8%.
An honest Appeal by
Mr LIEW WEI BENG
President APAC
(Gabungan Persatuan-persatuan Penduduk, Petaling Jaya
/ All Petaling Jaya, Selangor Residents Association Coalition)
