Explain why councillor was sacked or else, say residents

(Sitting from right) Resident Representative Council (MPP) member and Nuri Seksyen 7 resident association chairman Arul Hisham Abdul Rahim with other members of the Kota Damansara Zone 3 MPP demanding an explanation to the sudden termination of their former councillor Shatiri Mansor.

RESIDENTS of PJU 4 and PJU 5 in Kota Damansara are demanding an immediate explanation as to why their former councillor Shatiri Mansor was terminated.

Shatiri's sudden termination on Aug 22 after serving as a councillor from 2014 came as a shocking move to residents in his area who had taken to him.

“We are giving the state and Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) 24 hours to respond with a strong and valid answer on why was he terminated,” said the resident representative council (MPP) Zone 3 member Arul Hisham Abdul Rahim during a press conference today.

He was joined by numerous members of the MPP, a group which is acknowledged by MBPJ and comprises of resident leaders from various resident associations, rukun tetangga, joint management body (JMC) and other resident leaders in PJU 4 and PJU 5.

All of them were there to seek an explanation to what is perceived as a sudden and unjust termination.

Arul, who is also the Nuri Seksyen 7 residents association (RA) chairman, said it was an unfair move and noted that residents had not been consulted beforehand.

“We want to voice our worry over how unfair this is as this sudden termination has disrupted all our future plans, which have been pre-planned with the councillor,” he said, adding that Shatiri was a councillor who was approachable and supportive of the community’s needs and activities.

Between July 2016 and June 2017, he organised over 170 programmes for residents in his area and has even made a few requests a reality. One of which was the Petaling Jaya Safe Neighbourhood Team (PKKPJ), where 35 teams mooted by Shatiri received grants on Aug 18.

“We were told that the termination letter was dated July 31 but he was only informed on Aug 22.

“During that time, he attended various meetings and activities in his capacity as a councillor, so it is really unfair to him as no warnings were given,” Arul said.

Residents are also upset that none of them were consulted over Shatiri's performance as a councillor.

Joining Arul was MPP’s head of the traffic division Omar Mat Noor who said that they had plans for the next step if they did not get a satisfactory answer.

“We not only want an answer – we want a real justification. And if we do not get it in 24 hours, we will launch our next step,” added Omar, who also the Damansara Emas RA chairman. 

Omar urged MBPJ and the state government to reach them with the answers via [e-mail].

It has been reported that a new councillor, Nor Azmi Abdul Kadir, has been sworn in based on a decision by PKR.