The state government today announced a RM1,000 hike in the basic allowance for its 48 councillors in the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP).

State executive councillor for local government, Chow Kon Yeow, who made the announcement, said the hike was approved by the state executive council which met today.

The basic allowance for councillors in 2015 was RM1,500, and effective Jan 1, will be increased to RM2,500, Chow noted.

Other allowances for telephone usage - RM300 per month - and for attendance at meetings or official state events remain at RM100 per session. Councillors can claim up to RM1,200 per month.

“This means that a councillor can only claim up to a maximum of RM4,000 a month,” Chow said at a press conference in Komtar today.

Asked to justify the hike in allowance, which will come to RM48,000 monthly, Chow said “the cost of living and their work load have increased”.

List of councillors

Meanwhile, Chow announced the list of councillors for MBPP and MPSP, with each getting 24.

There are four councillors from Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) - two each for MBPP and MPSP.

They are Mhd Nasir Yahya and Saiful Azwan Abd Malek for MBPP and Zulkiply Ishak and Mohd Suzuki Ahmad for MPSP.

None from PAS has been named.

There is also no increase of councillors under the NGO quota which remains at four for MBPP and three for MPSP.

Those under the NGO quota are Lim Mah Hui, Eric Lim Seng Keat, Gan Ay Ling and Mohamed Yusoff Mohamed Noor for MBPP, and Tiun Ling Ta, Wong Chee Keet and Ahmad Tarmizi Abdullah for MPSP.

Under DAP’s quota for MBPP, Chow said two new councillors - Grace Teoh Koon Gee and Kala A/P Durai Raj - have been appointed, while five previous councillors have been dropped.

He added that for MPSP, two new councillors - Heng Yeh Shiuan, and Kumar Kanapathy - were appointed under the DAP’s quota, while two previous councillors were dropped.

For PKR’s quota, Chow said there were two new councillors for MBPP - Kumaresan Aramugam and Ahmad Razaaim Azimi, and six for MPSP - Goh Choon Aik, Alias Wan Chek, Ong Jing Cheng, Anuar Yusoff, Amar Pritpal Abdullah and Shuhada Abdul Rahman.

In all, PKR dropped or replaced eight previous councillors – two in MBPP and six in MPSP.

“The appointment of councillors is in line with Section 10 of the 1976 Local Government Act,” Chow said.

“All the councillors will be sworn in tomorrow at the City Hall, and the respective committees will be formed next week so that they can all function immediately,” Chow added.