Monday, March 10, 2008

Selangor MB-designate wants public to have access to info

PETALING JAYA: Mentri Besar-designate Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim wants to make Selangor free of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

He said he had prepared a draft and would discuss the matter with a legal adviser to see if Selangor could be exempted from enforcing the Act so that people have the right to information on state management matters.

“Then, the people will know the efforts of the state administration, and we can have check and balance,” Khalid told a press conference yesterday.

He refused to comment on speculation that two deputy mentris besar would be appointed – one each for the Chinese and Indian communities.

“I have to check on the provisions of the state government over the matter,” he said.

Khalid said the state government should be more people-oriented in the distribution of resources rather than base it on political allocation. He also hoped to implement an open tender system for all government projects.

Khalid, the former CEO of Guthrie Bhd, said he needed 100 days to familiarise himself with the affairs of the state.

On whether PKR would continue to maintain Selangor’s developed status, he said, he would maintain the state's growth rate and would only consider it developed if all the rakyat enjoy good development.

Asked if he would give up his state seat for PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, he said:

“I do not think Anwar is interested in handling state affairs.”

Asked if he would abolish the New Economic Policy, Khalid said the policy was not in the Constitution and was merely an administrative document.

However, the policy needed to be adjusted to accommodate certain communities, he said.

2 comments:

Vote Wisely said...

Congratulations to Tan Sri Khalid. We welcome the new State Government. We want the Selangor State Government to be a model state for BN-controlled states to emulate. We look forward to a State Government which will uphold its pledge of being transparent and accountable.

We want a Government to do away with policies that are race-based. We want to call ourselves Malaysians. All forms requiring Malaysians to fill in their race should be discarded. We want meritocracy to be introduced. We want the Government to value human capital. We want the best people regardless of race to head the State Government Departments and Government Linked Companies to propel the state forward.

Those not up to the mark must make way for the capable. We want the cake to be shared by all because we are all brothers and sisters. Rich Chinese must help the poor Malays, Indians and others. Rich Malays must help the poor Indians, Chinese and others. Rich Indians must help the poor Chinese, Malays and others.

All State Assembly representatives must show exemplary qualities of being clean and incorrupt.

Unknown said...

Congrats for being elected as our Kampung Tunku national rep. We are hoping that you can put about some changes that will be helpful to the area.

Are you or the others going to be setting up a way to allow us to talk to you both in person and via the internet?

Some people have mentioned a website for kampung tunku or a central selangor state website.