DAP’s five elected parliamentarians in Kuala Lumpur will begin initiatives aimed at fulfilling one of the party’s key election pledges - the return of local council elections.

Local elections, a prominent feature of the 1950s, were suspended following the 1969 riots. Subsequently the Local Government Act 1976 was enacted to provide for the establishment of municipalities and district councils.

The most detrimental effect of the Act was that the members of these councils were appointed rather than elected. In most cases, the council chairperson would also be the district officer.

tan seng giaw "So, after an absence of more than 40 years, we will try to bring back democracy at the local governance level," said DAP’s Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw (pix) at a press conference today.

"A signature campaign will be started by us to lobby the federal government to return local council elections to the people," he said.

If need be, a referendum will also be suggested for the people of Kuala Lumpur to allow them to give their opinion on the matter, he added.

Second on the parliamentarians’ agenda will be to call upon Kuala Lumpur City Hall to improve transparency in terms of its financial management. According to Tan, RM2.457 billion has been allocated to Kuala Lumpur under the 2008 Budget.

He cited the example of KL City Hal’s attempt at building a circuit for remote-controlled toy racing cars.

"No one knows how much it costs or who the contractor is. The project was started, stalled, restarted and has stalled again. There must be greater transparency in this matter," he stressed.

Shredding report

Other areas to be delved into include the position of security firms in the city, the installing of CCTVs to monitor crime and increasing the number of policemen and women for the capital.

The DAP parliamentarians would also be pushing for the city’s mayors to be elected rather than appointed..

"Cities around us like Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila already have elected mayors. Why can’t we?" asked DAP’s Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai.

"If our mayors are elected, they will have to be more accountable and careful when they discharge their duties. They will then be answerable to the voters," said Tan.

Besides the two Tans, the press conference was also attended by DAP’s Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun, Segambut’s Lim Lip Eng and Seputeh’s Teresa Kok.

Meanwhile, DAP’s state assembyperson for Kg Tunku Lau Weng San, made a police report concerning the destruction of public documents at the Selangor state secretariat building after polling day on March 8.

His report, filed at the Petaling Jaya Sea Park police station on Thursday, urged the police to investigate if certain official documents had been shredded to destroy evidence.

"This matter has already been reported by certain bloggers and electronic media and I request the police to ensure that no documents belonging to the Selangor state government are destroyed before the new exco takes over," said Lau.