Muhyiddin, Selangor rep spar over funding for villages
By The Malaysian Insider
SHAH ALAM, Dec 9 ─ Putrajaya’s direct allocations to village committees in Pakatan Rakyat-ruled (PR) states today became subject of a heated discussion between Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Selangor executive councillor Yaakob Sapari, who accused the federal government of intervention in state affairs.
Yaakob criticised the federal government for forming its own village security and development committee or JKKKP in Selangor and other states controlled by PR when speaking at the Peninsular Malaysia penghulus association annual general meeting here.
“This should not have happened. And it only started after the 12th general election when Pakatan Rakyat won Selangor, and this it has resulted in unhealthy competition,” said Yaakob when speaking on behalf of Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.
The village committee is the lowest unit of administration and the members are traditionally appointed by the heads of state government.
In the four PR states however, the federal government appointed more than 3,000 members of the JKKKP, a move seen to ensure BN remains in control of grassroots leaders in the states.
“This is not an attack against Barisan Nasional or to Tan Sri,” said Yaakob who also appealed to the deputy prime minister to dissolve the federal committees.
At this point Yaakob’s voice was drowned by shouts of disapproval from some 300 local chiefs who attended the meeting who asked him to end his speech.
The Kota Anggerik assemblyman however continued to slam Putrajaya for its refusal to channel constituency allocation to PR MPs.
Later in his speech Muhyiddin (picture) pointed out that the federal government only wanted to ensure that financial allocation channeled to the state is managed efficiently.
He also pointed out to the local chiefs that Putrajaya also maintains its own development office in Selangor headed by State Development Officer Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh.
