S'WAK ASSEMBLY Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud should replace Wong Soon Koh as Local Government and Community Development Minister for allegedly failing to fulfill his duties, claimed DAP assemblyperson for Dudong Yap Hoi Leong while debating the state budget.

"I remind the Member for Bawan Assan who is Local Government Minister in charge of local authorities that he should not sit in the office waiting for complaints letters to come to his office," Yap said.

"You should do your homework. You are not the boss, the rakyat are the boss.

NONE "So I urge the state leadership to replace Wong ( left ) as the local government minister with someone able to tackle illegal cyber gambling and a host of other problems affecting councils in the state," he said.

Yap also urged Tiong Thai King, chairperson of the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC), and his deputy Daniel Ngieng to step down or be replaced with new leadership as SMC's performance had been below par.

There should be new leadership to serve Sibu better, he added.

SMC, which is controlled by the Sarawak United People's Party, has been under the leadership of Tiong and Ngieng since 2004.

Pointing out that the council is assigned with the important role of collecting revenue and developing Sibu, Yap said: "Since I was elected in 2011, I've received many complaints and feedback pertaining to the performance of the local authority."

He said most of the people are dissatisfied with the sub-standard performance of SMC like many roads in Sibu town being in bad condition, drainage also not properly maintained and some under DID neglected.

Complaints falling on deaf ears

"Many people are complaining about the poor service of the garbage collection.

SMC does have a complaints system, but most of the time, it does not work. Many complaints lodged by the people are ignored by the council," he added.

Quite a number of street lights are not functioning and left unattended for months, according to Yap.

NONE "I wonder what the councillors are doing. Are they conducting regular inspections on all these in their respective areas? The people are now confused what are the actual functions of a councillor in Sibu.

"It seems the councillors are not doing their jobs at all," he said adding that pointing o he had also received numerous public complaints and had forwarded them to the council.

"SMC has always ignored our requests," he said, adding: "There are widespread grievances on the sub-standard performance of the SMC.

He said it would be better they stepped down or be replaced with new leadership in order to provide better and more efficient services.

Cyber-gambling on the rise

Yap said that cyber-gambling in the state has become a serious menace that is getting out of hand and threatening to corrupt young people's minds.

As many shop lots have been used for the illegal cyber gambling which is within the jurisdiction of the local authority, it shows that the local authority also fails to check on these premises which have been turned into cyber gambling centres, he said.

"Pursuant to the Local Authority Ordinance 1966, all local authorities are conferred with the power to conduct regular inspection on all buildings within its local jurisdiction.

"I wonder why the local authority is reluctant to conduct regular inspection or at all on the premises which are suspected to be used as cyber gambling centres in the state," he added.

Since this is within the authority and jurisdiction of the local authority, he urged the ministry concerned to issue directives to all local authorities to collaborate with the police force to track down all the culprits in cyber gambling in the state.

Yap said that in Sibu many people are complaining that cyber gambling is mushrooming now after a short ‘break'. It could be found in Sibu town centre, Sibu Jaya, and even shophouses near residential areas.

He expressed concern over the many youngsters including students being involved in cyber gambling which will corrupt their minds.

"I wonder whether the local government and community development minister has done any survey or investigation into the number of illegal cyber-gambling centres in major towns in Sarawak.

"Or whether the social development minister has conducted any study on the adverse impact of the cyber gambling on society.

"I also wonder whether the special affairs minister or the chief minister have issued any order to the police to track down the illegal cyber-gambling or not," he said.