SIBU: Minister of Local Government and Community Development Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh yesterday promised councillors that their request for funds to carry out their duties would be looked into.
If given, the money would be included in the total allocation for the council, he said.
“The councillors can go to the ground. If they see the need for certain projects to be implemented, they can request through the deputy chairman and chairman.
“In other words, we give certain authority to the councillors to decide whether the requests are deserving,” he told reporters after witnessing the swearing-in of Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman, deputy chairman and councillors yesterday.
Earlier, council chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King asked for every councillor to be allocated RM100,000 a year from the state government as motivation to better discharge their duty.
He said it would enable councillors to better engage with the community and serve the people effectively.
The term of the current batch of councillors is two years, ending on Dec 31, 2015.