A PKR councillor said that the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) should embark on law reforms to keep up with changing times.

lim boo chang Councillor Lim Boo Chang suggested that MPPP should do away with all irrelevant and outdated laws on Penang island.

In making this call, he claimed to have discovered that many of the 34 post-independence by-laws enacted by MPPP were irrelevant to the both the local authority and ratepayers.

Among the laws Lim perceived as “outdated and irrelevant” were related to cleanliness, public safety, markets, cows, dogs, hawkers, planning, buildings, heritage, parks and gardens, infrastructure, transportation, health and the environment.

He said MPPP should set up a standing committee to review all the existing by-laws to make sure that the council does not lag behind the times.

“MPPP should update all its laws to tighten and strengthen its legal mechanism to fulfill and meet the changing and growing public aspirations on issues affecting their daily lives.

penang world heritage town 140708 01 “The local council should embark on a constant process of law reforms...,” Lim, the PKR Bukit Gelugor deputy chairperson, said in a statement, adding that the reforms must also be “convenient, fair and just” to the public.

Lim argued that the council’s policies and action plans could not be implemented smoothly and efficiently without effective by-laws or rules and regulation to assist councillors and local government officers to carry out their duties.

“Laws are mere legal tools to regulate the society. It is not something sacrosanct that cannot be touched, or something that will remain the same forever,” he said.

He said local governments, being the third tier of government after the federal and state administrations, enjoyed partial autonomy in running their own affairs through its presidents and councillors.

Local councils are not only responsible to formulate policy but also responsible to make and unmake by-laws.

Tricycles, trishaws and torture

Lim acknowledged that local councils have limited power to make and repeal by-laws compared with federal and state governments.

Nevertheless, he said the parental acts governing the councils have enabled the local authorities to make by-laws or rules and regulations to upgrade and strengthen policy making and implementation at local levels.

penang pulau pinang old heritage pre war buildings 160307 01 Lim said that the MPPP, for instance, had legislated many by-laws under the Local Government Act 1976 and Streets, Drainage and Buildings Act 1974 to upgrade and tighten its administration and operations.

“Some of these by-laws were made by the council before independence,” he said.

He said since 1918, the MPPP had passed 44 by-laws, including 10 pre-independence legislation governing bullock cart drivers’ licensing (1918), petroleum and dangerous petroleum storage and transportation control (1931), places of entertainment in the city (1933) and in rural areas (1949).

Other by-laws were on prevention of torture to animals (1947), trishaws (1948), garages (1952), three-wheel bicycles (1953), various payments (1953) and sewage treatment plants in rural areas (1957).

Some of these legislation are irrelevant today.