[ad_1]
GEORGE TOWN: The government’s new local community mobilizers will not overlap or usurp the roles played by local councils as certain groups claim, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said today.
She said the activists (known as PeKT) would simply broadcast the latest government initiatives and policies to low-income workers and the poorest. The representatives were assigned to local governments on a geographic basis and would not interfere with local governance, he said.
Zuraida said the members, a combination of politicians and designated NGOs, reported directly to the local Ministry of Housing and Government and not to local councils.
“I think the group (which was against the PeKT) did not understand the meaning of this. They shouldn’t go against it, I think they don’t understand it, ”he said referring to Dekat, a local governance interest group.
Yesterday, Dekat said the appointment of the PeKTs went beyond the role of the ministry and questioned whether the new appointments were being made for political purposes.
Explaining the hierarchy of mobilizers, Zuraida said that each PeKT team would have 15 members, with each team covering the typical 24 districts of a local council.
She said there would be an annual allocation of RM10,000 for each team, with RM2,000 allocated monthly to the head of PeKT for administration expenses.
He added that teams could request donations for community engagement events.
Zuraida said that the first to receive PeKT would be Melaka, followed by Penang, Selangor and Kelantan, where the current number of mobilizers is 550 members.
He said the mobilizers would carry out community work such as “cash trash” recycling efforts, hold talks on fire and crime prevention and provide aid to the poor.
Today in Bayan Lepas, he presented credentials to 157 designated PeKT members in Penang, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor.
