PETALING JAYA: Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has bagged the best local government award from the Housing and Local Government Ministry with a score of 98.32%.
Petaling Jaya Mayor Mohamad Azhan Md Amir said it was a proud moment when MBPJ emerged tops among the 155 local governments in the country.
The council received the award from Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming at the Local Government Convention 2023 organised by the ministry over the weekend at Ipoh Convention Centre in Perak.
Mohamad Azhan said MBPJ, like any other local government, focuses on public amenities such as the drains and roads but moving forward there are plans to double the deposit imposed on utility providers.
This is to ensure the city continues to have proper roads that are not left in poor condition after a utility provider does upgrade works requiring digging up roads.
"We want to double the deposit for any projects that require digging up our roads. This is so that the council roads are well resurfaced or we will just use the deposit.
"At the moment, if a project is worth RM1mil our deposit is also that amount but in the future we want to charge a deposit of RM2mil. We want our roads to be resurfaced properly," said Mohamad Azhan.
On the award, he said MBPJ has a well-focused plan called the Petaling Jaya Smart Sustainable Resilient (PJSSR) 2030.
This plan comes with 10 themes which consists of low carbon city, circular economy city, safe and resilient city, inclusive city, child friendly city, learning city, economically vibrant city, society 5.0 city, smart city and e-governance city.
Meanwhile, the Selangor government has congratulated MBPJ and all local authorities in the state for each achieving five-star rating in the Local Authorities Star Rating System presentation at the same event.
"We congratulate MBPJ in particular for being crowned overall champion and winning the best local authority title (in Malaysia)," said state local government, public transportation and new village development committee chairman Ng Sze Han in a statement.
"MBPJ was among the 155 local authorities nationwide that were assessed and scored the highest points with 98.32%. MBPJ also achieved the highest ratings in three criteria ‒ core services, customer management as well as community participation and residents' feedback.
"Apart from MBPJ, all local authorities in Selangor achieved five-star ratings, with Sabak Bernam District Council scoring 93.23% and ranked 57th overall.
"Klang Municipal Council (MPK) was also crowned champion in the Malaysian Association of Local Authorities Innovation Competition 2.0."
Ng noted that the overall achievements were in line with the state government's vision for Selangor to be a smart, inclusive and caring state.
