KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) governance reforms are aimed at changing the work culture and shifting the heavy concentration of power on just the mayor, says Hannah Yeoh.
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) told the Dewan Rakyat that the changes are being implemented through separation of powers, as well as checks and balances.
One measure was doing away with the special one-stop centre (OSC) committee to ensure the separation of powers and prevent political interference in development decisions, she said.
The OSC 3.0+ Portal now allows MPs to access information and provide input before approvals are granted, she added.
"This reform approach aims to change the working culture from a model of decision-making based on individuals, which was previously heavily concentrated in the mayor's powers, to one based on the principles of good governance, collective responsibility and integrity," she said on Thursday (July16).
Furthermore, the mayor no longer chairs the audit committee, she said, and DBKL had introduced a RM3,000 cap on the mayor’s authority to approve contributions with larger amounts having to be referred to a senior management committee for consideration.
Yeoh said the DBKL Advisory Board had also been strengthened, with measures introduced to prevent conflict of interest and improve accountability in decision-making.
"The implementation of job rotation is currently underway within DBKL for field officers and officers holding sensitive positions to reduce the risk of familiarity threats.
"The implementation of body-worn cameras is also underway and is expected to roll out in phases beginning in the fourth quarter," she added.
To a question by Tan Kok Wai (PH-Cheras), Yeoh said DBKL has also embarked on digitalisation and is aiming to strengthen the smart city ecosystem to improve the quality of service delivery.
"For example, by 2030 all applications will be processed online. A total of 170 online application services have been introduced as of July this year.
"DBKL is also targeting a total of 180 end-to-end services by the end of this year to ensure that its service delivery is more transparent, faster and more accurate," she said.
Reforms to the licence validity period have been implemented from July 1, with the term extended to three years to ensure that all licence holders can deal with DBKL more conveniently, she added.
Tan had asked about DBKL's governance and institutional reforms.
