ISKANDAR PUTERI: Kempas assemblyman Datuk Osman Sapian says it was unfair for a Barisan Nasional representative to blame him for appointing an illiterate as a village chief during his tenure as Johor Mentri Besar.
He said when he took over the state administrative from Barisan Nasional, he felt there was a need to change the 1,700 village chiefs throughout the state.
“I felt a bit disheartened when Sungai Balang assemblywoman Zaiton Ismail claimed I appointed a village chief who did not know how to read or write.
“When it came to the interview process for the village chief positions, I was not involved, as everything was done by the relevant district officers,” he added.
Osman made the remarks in his debate on Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar’s decree at the state assembly sitting held at Bangunan Sultan Ismail in Kota Iskandar on Wednesday (July 3).
Meanwhile, he urged the current state government, headed by his successor, Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal, to continue with the policies that he set before resigning from his post as Mentri Besar.
He said that the new state administrator did not have to come up with new policies, as it would take time for the government to do it.
“The recent announcement by Dr Sahruddin on tax review was actually approved by me when I was the Mentri Besar.
“This is because the state does not have enough natural resources such as sand and logs that we can used to develop Johor and help the rakyat,” he said.
Osman added that the new tax scheme would not be a burden to the people, especially those within the B40 group, as they did not own land and therefore would not be hit by it.
It was reported that the state government would be making amendments to land tax rate for the first time in 15 years.
Dr Sahruddin said the last time the amendments were made was way back in 2004.
He added state government was now in the final stage in revising tax rate as stipulated under Section 101 of the National Land Act.
According to him, the revisions and amendments to the land tax was to stimulate Johor’s development and economic growth besides increasing the government’s revenue.
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