Ronnie is non-isue — Selangor MB
(Bernama) – The Selangor government Wednesday rejected the call made by Selangor PAS to strip the post of Ronnie Liu as State Local Government, Study and Research Committee chairman following allegations that he had interfered in enforcement by the local authorities.
"Ronnie is not an issue when solving the problem of selling alcoholic drinks in Selangor," said Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to reporters after chairing the weekly state executive council (exco) meeting at State Secretariat Building (SUK) near here, today.
The Selangor PAS yesterday called for Liu to be stripped of his local government portfolio following the seizure of beer by the local council last week.
State PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Mohamed Ali was reported as saying that Liu was interfering with the work of local councils and this had demoralised the staff.
He also claimed that Liu had ordered the seized beer to be returned to the 7-Eleven outlet in Section 8 although Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) was clearly acting within its jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Khalid said the state government would come up with a summarised guideline on the sale of liquor in Selangor, this Friday.
He also ordered all state government officials and exco members not to issue statements on the sale of alcoholic drinks in Selangor during the said period.
"I am tasked to solve the problem (of selling alcoholic drinks in Selangor) and will find a fair mechanism that suits the needs and sentiments of various races when solving the issue," he said adding that the state had been engaging in public dialogues with various non-governmental organisations, resident associations and business community on the issue.
Commenting on the visit by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to Selangor exco member, Rodziah Ismail's office today, Khalid said: "It is quite common for MACC coming to the SUK building to conduct investigation and it's accepted by the state government."
He said he would not stop the MACC officers from carrying out their investigation on any of his officers on condition that they (officers) were given the right to have their lawyers during interviewing.
"I will also allow MACC to have a room inside my office to conduct their investigations if the need arises," he said.
It was understood that the MACC had turned up at Rodziah's office today as part of its investigation into the alleged abuse of constituency funds by certain elected representatives in the state.
However, the MACC officers were denied entry because they had no warrant to raid the office of the exco member.
Rodziah is the exco in charge of welfare, women affairs and science, technology and innovation.
