The only way to bring back accountability and transparency in the local authorities is to bring back local government elections, said Penang-based rights group Aliran.

Aliran president P Ramakrishnan said People's Progressive Party (PPP) president M Kayveas seems to have hit a raw nerve in criticising the shortcomings of local councils, which are without a doubt not accountable to the public.

"What Kayveas has said is nothing new or contentious. This is something Aliran has been highlighting for many years but our views have been consistently blacked out," he said in a statement.

Kayveas, who is also a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department, has dubbed local councils as 'secret societies' in the recent PPP assembly.

His remark has drawn flak from the local councils and politicians who demanded him to apologise.

Kayveas later clarified that he had meant to highlight that local councils were 'societies run in secrecy' and not 'secret societies'.

Ramakrishnan pointed out that there has been a lot of arbitrariness and lack of transparency in the projects that have been undertaken, resulting in wastage and allegations of corruption.

Public participation

He cited the case of the Penang City Council which recently warned motorists that they are not allowed to park their cars in parking bays with defective or missing coin-parking meters.

"Motorists who do so are liable to be given a ticket if the enforcement officer happens to stumble upon this 'offence'! If the council is providing a service (parking bays), it is their business to ensure that the meters are in working order," he said.

"The public should not be inconvenienced or, worse still, punished for the council's lack of maintenance especially when parking bays are so limited and public transport is so atrocious," he added.

Ramakrishnan also cited 'the beautification' project at the Udini Road roundabout in Penang which sparked a lot of criticism from Penangites.

"It was also revealed last year that the Seberang Perai Municipal Council racked up a huge bill for freshly cut flowers, delivered once a week, as part of a five-year contract that was worth RM1.5 million or about RM5,700 a week. This was supposedly meant to 'brighten up' the council's office," he said.

Open meetings to public

He said any proposed policy or major project must be brought to the attention of the public for debate and discussion so that the people's views can be considered first.

"In fact, local council meetings should be open to the public. What valid reason can there be for excluding ordinary people from council meetings - unless there is something to hide?" he asked.

He stressed that the lack of accountability has its roots in the way councillors are selected which under the present system, political loyalists are rewarded by their political masters with appointments as town councillors.

"The terms of office of these councillors appear to be at the whims and fancies of their political masters. Whether they perform or not, the councillors continue to warm their seats," he said.

Therefore, he said it is not surprising that these councillors don't feel answerable to the people, who generally do not even know who they are.

"Local elections, where it is the people who decide who should be elected as councillors, will go a long way in forcing councillors - and by extension, local councils - to be accountable to the public,"he added.