Responsiblities of District Town Councilors in Malaysia

My former schoolmate from ACS, Ipoh, who is now residing in Singapore dropped me a note last week. In her email, she asked about the role of town councilors in Malaysia.

Malaysian administrations consist of the federal government, the state government and the local government. The district town councilors are part of the local government.

Most local government comes under the jurisdiction of the state government and is the lowest level of government under the Malaysian government system. KL/W.P., Labuan and Putrajaya is managed by the federal government.

The responsibilities of the local government include:

1. General policies that involve planning, upgrading and usage of land and buildings.
2. Town planning
3. Effective and systematic governing of a specific area
4. Infrastructure upgrades and development.
5. Provide recreational and services to the locals.

The local government also performs:

1. By-laws or subsidiary law—"undang-undang kecil". The by-laws are only applicable for the specific district or city. Examples of such laws include advertisement, business, industry and profession, car park, etc.
2. Collect land tax and property assessment tax.
3. Various licensing such as business license, grave yard license, hawker license, entertainment license, animal license, pasar malam, various rentals, etc.
4. Rubbish and drainage.
5. Collective local government funds "Kumpulan Wang Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan".
6. Government contract, prosecution and own properties.
7. Name for streets.
8. Traffic lights & bus stop