Following recent scandals implicating local council officers in tipping off "tontos" dealing with illegal activities of impending raids, a cabinet minister today suggested for a re-centralisation of council chief appointments.

According to a Bernama report, Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister M Kayveas said heads of local councils should be appointed by the federal government instead of state governments for better monitoring of their performance.

"If the federal government had the power to appoint the heads, then I believe they would work better not o­nly because of fear of the central government but also because of the heavy responsibility rested o­n them by the government," he said before starting the People's Progressive Party (PPP) supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Kayveas was asked by reporters to comment o­n his recent statement that some Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) enforcement officers were earning up to RM60,000 a month in kickbacks for warning businessmen involved in illegal activities of planned raids.

Ineffective monitoring

According to Kayveas, such a change in the reporting structure of local councils would allow the federal government to take action against council heads not carrying out their duties, rather than rely o­n state authorities.

"We, at the federal level are not empowered to take any action against these people. It is in the hands of the state governments. Some states take their own time because the people involved are politically-connected," he said.

Kayveas said local councils should also be vigilant in ensuring that their staff are not involved with corrupt activities as a few bad apples would affect the image of the entire council.

"The ministry has no ill intention against the councils but they should clean up their act," he stressed.

Kayveas said the ministry had gathered complaints and evidence of malpractices among local council officers for further investigation by the Anti-Corruption Agency.

The deputy minister added that his ministry is taking the matter seriously as the action of corrupt council officers would undermine the government's efforts in eradicating "social ills" such as the sale of pornographic VCDs.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim was quoted in the New Straits Times today as saying that he would be collecting further information o­n Kayveas' claims against the MPAJ officers.

Rais said he would be obtaining evidence from Kayveas and other "sources" o­n the corruption allegations.