S'gor to drop all legal suits against individuals

All legal suits against individuals filed by the Selangor government will be dropped said local government, research and study exco Ronnie Liu.

Liu, 50, relayed this during an interview with Malaysiakini at his sprawling 15th floor office in the state building in Shah Alam yesterday.

Sporting a crisp white shirt and striped tie, the DAP central committee member appeared to have settled down well into his new role and new office, although the purple furniture left behind by his predecessor does not tickle his fancy.

"I have been so busy I haven’t even had to time to organise things in my empty office. I haven’t even tried using the computer," he quipped before the interview.

The Pandamaran state representative speaks about his portfolios, his relationship with the local authorities, development plans for the state and why Teng Chang Khim would make a good state assembly speaker.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

Can you tell us about the scope of duties in your state exco portfolio?

I have to lead two committees. One is local government the other one is basically research and development (R&D). R&D is a totally new portfolio. Local government used to be under the menteri besar but we took it away to lessen (state menteri besar) Tan Sri (Khalid Ibrahim)’s burden because he is already busy with land, finance and economy.

Local government means we have to work with all the local council presidents (YDPs) very closely. From the day to day running to the setting up of guidelines and policies. This is important as it governs the livelihood of the people from licensing to enforcement, approval of plans and projects, repairing of roads and potholes, cemeteries, street lamps, traffic, rubbish collection to drains. Everything. All these areas are problematic because there are so much flash floods going on.

I’m still waiting for the report from the YDPs why the flash floods happen. So many improvement needs to be done. There are some issues that the YDPs cannot decide and they need my help, just like how some things I cannot solve myself and I need the cooperation of the YDPs to carry it out. That nature of work itself keeps me very busy.

R&D is totally new. The mission is to enhance the economy of Selangor through R&D. So that means you can do a lot of things or you don’t have to do anything. But it can also mean that the scope can be very wide. I have to start getting experts from outside since the government structure doesn’t provide this. They never had a culture of R&D in this country, not just the state.

Even the federal level has no R&D and they don’t spend money on it. We’ve got nothing to refer to so we have to find experts even from overseas to come up with blueprints to push it. Frankly, I have not started. I’ve started to find people to form working committees in the midst of getting experts. Selangor is the first and only one with a R&D portfolio. I most probably got this job because Tan Sri thinks I’m a creative person. I don’t mind and take it as a challenge.

How is your relationship with the local councils so far?

Very good. It’s very cordial, friendly, they are willing to work together and tell me their problems. Maybe that’s because I already know most of them when I was in opposition, like MBPJ (Petaling Jaya city council), MPAJ (Ampang Jaya municipal council), MPKJ (Kajang municipal council) and MPSJ (Subang Jaya municipal council). So they roughly know what sort of person I am.

The first thing we achieved is that we’ve already set a target to have a greener, cleaner and safer Selangor. So we have agreed that whatever we do and whatever guidelines and policies we come up with, it has to work towards these goals.

Have you encountered any problems with them?

So far, no problem. I sense that all the local authorities whether municipalities or township, they are waiting for the new government to move in and bring in something new and bring in changes. I sense that. Of course we try to impress upon them that we want to bring in changes, that’s why were are here.

I also told them that the new government can give them a chance to revamp their image. I was honest with them and said they have a not-so-healthy image now. So it is a chance to change and to have a good new image. And they all agreed. Some of them started to launch a new campaign like MPSJ, which launched its ‘mesra, cepat dan berintegriti’ (friendly, quick and integrity) campaign. To me, it is very apt, their job can be made dignified and they can walk tall when carrying out their duties.

Will you be taking action against local authorities that have abused their power e.g. the officers who were rude and aggressive during the Kampung Berembang demolition?

I will try to find out their sentiments and all that. I think the people are very magnanimous., our Kampung Berembang people. Of course they pointed out who were those people who were rude to them and all that but no one actually demanded that action be taken. They are not taking revenge. I sense there is a big relief on MPAJ’s side that we’re not going to sack people.

In fact, I met with representatives from Kampung Berembang, the developers and also the MPAJ president yesterday to resolve the problem. After listening to them, I sense that although it is quite complicated, the solutions are in sight. So I took a chance by saying that we want to resolve everything by the first 100 days of our administration and I’ve gotten the consensus from all three parties.

So we have to make sure all the people who were (displaced) last time will be moved in to the low cost houses when completed and some compensation must be paid to them.

What is going to happen to those currently still living in tents in Kampung Berembang?

They are not complaining about that. I think it’s probably because they know the new government is going to help them. So in Kampung Berembang we’re not solving the problems faced by the people still in tents, we’re going to help those victimised by the local authorities and developers. We are solving the entire problem.

How will you be pushing for local council elections in Selangor?

I have already started talks with all the councillors and my counterparts in other states. So I think that is certainly in the pipeline. It is our goal to restore local government elections but we need people to understand that it involves so many things and also the endorsement of the central government and the cooperation with the Election Commission. State governments cannot form their own EC to conduct elections for local councillors. It’s a lot of work. We would prefer this to be done by a reformed EC.

So all these things take time. But of course it’s possible because it shouldn’t be seen as a total disadvantage to the Barisan Nasional government. Like in Selangor, we have taken over but in two to three years down the line we have local government elections, that means the BN has an opportunity to field their candidate and win the elections.

If you don’t have elections then they have no chance at all, the appointment system will continue. So with that, I don’t won’t to rule out an endorsement coming from BN.

How much time do you need?

Some of us think that we need at least two years. Some say maybe three years. Some think we’ll definitely do it before the end of our term. We can’t make predictions at this time because it depends a lot on the federal government whether they want to give the endorsement or not because if they don’t give the endorsement, we have to bring the whole thing to court.

We might need the court to make a ruling because the Local Government Act is not good enough to allow us to call for local government elections, there are other Acts at the federal level.

Is it true the Selangor state received 600 over letters from people applying to be local councillors?

That’s an estimation, maybe more. My office alone received about 200 but we don’t know about the PKR, PAS and PSM office. I know for a fact that the NGOs continue to send in more. We will most certainly provide a certain percentage for the NGOs, professional bodies, some community leaders but we haven’t got the final decision on that. But it would be substantial. I just hope that the candidates know what they are getting into.

What about those who become local councillors in order to get contracts and businesses?

We are going to change the way we give out tenders. Tenders will be open and even the board members for the (scrutiny of) tender will be different from those days. Those days you can find even division heads of Umno in it but this is a thing of the past. We’re going to revamp all that towards more transparency and integrity. If anybody wants to be a councillor thinking they can get contracts, it won’t happen anymore. All the causes of corruption will be nipped in the bud.

We know how to prevent corruption. Just like Tan Sri’s decision that no individuals can apply for land. That immediately cuts off the possibility for corruption already. There’s no reason to bodek (apple polish) me anymore because an individual cannot get land, how can I get land for you? So this minimalises corruption through the change in system.

You may not be able to upgrade the quality of the person but to upgrade the quality of the system is quite easy. Of course the next part is to make sure they follow the procedures.

Who will be selecting these local councillors?

We have a selection committee. We would not tell you they are because we don’t want too many calls.

Do you have the number as to how many legal suits are there against the state government?

I’ve been asking the YDPs to come up with all the figures. As a policy we have already decided whatever suits in which we are suing the people, will be dropped. Whatever suits being brought by the people against us, we will ask them to drop them so that everything will go back to the negotiation table.

So far we have withdrawn some eviction orders likeJalan Papan in Pandamaran (Klang) and in Kampung Berembang. And the high tension cable issue in Rawang, we’ve already advised both the lawyers to put all actions on hold.

The main grouse for a lot of settlers is alternative housing. What steps are you taking to make sure that alternative housing are made for these communities?

We will continue the policy to provide housing for the people. As far as Selangor is concerned, we’re in the process of getting all those housing projects controlled by the central government to hand it over to the state government. Some are already being handed over to the state government but we want more of that. We would want to sell the units to the people rather than collecting rental from them so they can become house-proud

We’ll also talk to developers to include low cost as their overall housing projects. We want developers to build bigger houses, bigger units. In the past it is only 650 square feet for the high rise apartments. I have started to talk to the local authorities to increase this by 100 square feet which means that there can be an additional 10x10 room. I believe the cost to add this 100 square feet is not very much.

You must understand there are a lot of families especially Malay families bigger than Chinese and Indian families. They need more rooms. I think the present low cost units is far from it. They cannot cope with the Malay families. We haven’t finalised the whole thing. I’ve been talking to developers and local authorities and they are all for it. Everybody’s positive. So I’m confident that we will be building bigger homes.

What about the problem where low cost houses are being built far away from the city?

Yes, we’ll resolve that. If you build them in a remote area, the cost of transportation for the people is already high. We would certainly change that pattern. Also you see a lot of high rise apartments whether middle or low cost, they usually don’t’ have enough parking.

We want every unit to have at least one and for middle cost apartments to have at least two parking lots. We will not allow any developer to build houses without providing enough parking lots.

How will you be countering the problem of over development in Selangor?

There is something called vertical development and horizontal development. Vertical development is like New York and horizontal development means Europe. For Malaysia we shouldn’t go for vertical, we go for horizontal and spread it out.

I’ve also talked to the local authorities (about this). I will get their agreement not to allow anymore high rise buildings in the state, nothing more than 12 storeys. If you want more than you better have a good explanation. But it is not a decision yet. I will talk and influence them. We have plenty of land. We’re not New York.

Look at Singapore. It doesn’t have land but if you look at their houses and their buildings, even with their high rise they have a lot of buffer zones. They plant trees and have little parks.

How many hillside development projects are there under the state government and what’s going to happen to them?

Bad news, we still have 141 projects that have been approved by the previous government. We cannot just remove them because it would involve a lot of compensation. The only thing left for us to do is to monitor them closely. We will give special attention to that.

But all the future developments - no more for Class 3 and Class 4. Absolutely no more development on the hillside. Any projects on hillside with slopes of more than 10 degrees will be scrutinised as much as possible before you can approve.

What is going to happen to late and former Port Klang assemblyperson Zakaria Mat Deros’ mansion?

To be specific, under the local by-laws in the past, a person who wanted to build a house needs to put in a plan first. But local authorities will not approve your plan so fast. So what they do is allow you to build your house first provided that your building is safe but you will be fined 10 times. So Zakaria’s case, he has paid the 10 times fine and the local authority at that time approved it. So the question of demolishing the house is no more there.

You were the first to expose the Port Klang Free Zone scandal. What are your views on Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat’s recent announcement to reveal how the RM4.6bil soft loan to the project was spent?

We are waiting for him. I welcome the statement but I’m not sure what statement he’s going to give because I have so many questions to ask which they have been unable to answer.

How many new members has DAP Selangor received since the elections?

I don’t have the figures but there has been a fantastic influx.

Do you think they are joining the party now to get government positions?

We’ve already said that whoever comes in now, (they must go for) training for three to five years. Then we’ll look at you, if you perform then we will provide some positions for you to do something. Nothing before yourself.

Can you comment about allegations that Sungai Pinang state assemblyperson Teng Chang Khim is being sidelined in the party and state?

That is not true. Teng was instrumental in helping the party to win the elections and forming the new coalition government. Hopefully he will be the Speaker. With Teng around, we will be able to run and upgrade the (state assembly) because that is part of DAP’s aim to make parliament and the state assemblies world class.

The Speaker is a very senior and important position in terms of protocol and the running of the state assembly. To begin with, he’ll have 25 staff under him. Me? (I get) only one clerk. You call that marginalisation? No.

Do you think he would have been more appropriate as an exco member?

He can be a good exco as well but the party was only given three seats because of some limitations. So to drop any of us, is not nice. Can you drop the state chairman (Ean Yong Hian Wah)? Can you drop people like Ronnie Liu? Can you drop people like Teresa (Kok)? So if you drop anyone, it’s not nice, including dropping Teng. There are so many factors why he was not included but he was included in the first four.

What are the specific reasons he was dropped?

I can’t give you the specific reasons. I can only give you my answer for you to think about.