LETTER TO EDITOR
By Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, Alliance For Safe Community Chairman
KOTA KINABALU: Local authorities are the level of government closest to the people. They are the managers of urban environments while the communities are the stakeholders.
All local councils must therefore be accountable, transparent and efficient. They need to take steps to ensure transparency and all their personnel including enforcement officers must carry out their duties professionally, fairly and justly and with integrity.
With each passing day, local government becomes more and more significant in terms of acquiring the capacity to deal with the many issues and finding quick and effective answers to community needs and services.
Local government, instead of being the lowest level of government should become the highest in terms of the people’s need for services. All local authorities should strive to give their best services and be accountable to the people they serve. In particular they must embrace and implement a good maintenance culture in the interest of public safety. Equally important is good governance.
Good governance requires public engagement wide participation and discussion involving not only governmental agencies but also diverse representatives from NGOs and civil groups.
Participation by all stakeholders is a cornerstone of good governance. And stakeholder involvement is vital for local authorities to work to bridge the huge divide between citizens and local authorities all over the country.
What is needed is a new citizen-government partnership to include eminent individuals, professional bodies and NGOs to provide input into the management of our local authorities.
Involving citizens at grassroots level is a key ingredient of good governance. This is more so when we do not have elected local councils. Only genuine stakeholder involvement can give the people what they want for their cities. Citizen participation is also vital for good governance to create a society where government gains and holds the confidence of the people.
If those in power are serious about government-citizen partnership, it must invest substantially in time and effort to involve the stakeholders of our cities.
Urban issues relating to the process of globalization, environment problems, urban poverty, urban sustainability, the issue of urban governance and how to improve the quality of urban life are among the many issues that need to be addressed effectively.
With such complex issues arising from urbanisation, it is time for the government to set up an Institute for Urban Governance which can function as a national resource and training center for urban governance and development. It can helps to facilitate research activities, provide support to academicians and individuals to undertake research and provide consultancy on urban issues.
The proposed Institute can also provide support and policy advice to the government in urban governance, development and management.
Urbanisation should lead to community spirit building. Where new urban centres are built, pro-active efforts must be taken to build a sense of community and belonging among the multi-ethnic residents which will be beneficial to our multiracial country in terms of generating goodwill, togetherness and unity.
