Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister Department M Kayveas was spot on when he mentioned that local governments were being run like secret societies, full of graft without being accountable to anyone in particular.

Numerous press reports on the abuse of power by our local councillors who approve projects which don't benefit the public show that they only act for their own personal interests and not in public interest.

Recent cases of local enforcement officers charged with graft are just the tip of the iceberg of abuse of power and corruption rampant among our local government officers.

This just goes to show that there are ample opportunities for government servants to obtain ill-gotten gains by awarding dubious projects at inflated prices. How many white elephants have we seen built by our local councils? Projects which drain public funds but do not improve the standard of living of the people.

Potholes in the roads are not attended to promptly but huge billboards which are an eyesore and hinder traffic seems to be sprouting like mushrooms everywhere, I'm sure some of them illegally.

Green hills and open spaces have fallen victims to so-called development where they converted into commercial centres which only benefit the businessmen who lobbied for those projects.

Pubic pressure has to be brought to bear before these so-called development projects are shelved or deferred and one tends to wonder if our local councillors work for the people who pay their salaries or for the businessmen who only see profits without a thought for the environment.

It is about time for the local council members to be elected by the people rather than being appointed by the winning political parties of a general election. This will bring about accountability and transparency in their work as opposed to the present.

Remember the wise words of George Bernard Shaw: 'Power does not corrupt men. Fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.'

Let the citizens have the right to elect those who can serve the public. Bring back elections for local councils to bring sanity to the cities that we live in.