Fighting the good fight for Lembah Pantai
Thursday, August 26th, 2010By Stephanie Sta Maria THU, 26 AUG 2010 10:44
SPECIAL REPORT ON KL The Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur has long been a political trophy for the government and the opposition and the competition took a fierce turn after 2008.
Prior to that fateful year, the Barisan Nasional (BN) enjoyed dominion over the city with seven representatives in the 11 constituencies. The tsunami washed out six of them thus putting the trophy in the hands of Pakatan Rakyat.
Now BN understandably wants it back and has begun its conquest with the key constituency of Lembah Pantai. But MP Nurul Izzah Anwar isn’t going down without a fight.
Right now though, her days are occupied by regular scuffles with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), which she claimed is an immovable block in her path towards serving her constituents.
“Most of the issues plaguing Lembah Pantai, like enforcement, public housing and services, fall under DBKL’s purview,” she said. “Which means that all the opposition MPs in KL are at the mercy of DBKL’s officers, legislations and structure. And our role is made even more complex by the on-going dynamics between elected and appointed representatives.”
One particular DBKL practice that has Nurul gritting her teeth in frustration is its lack of transparency in issuing housing to the people of Kampung Kerinchi. Her requests that DBKL publicly display a list of recipients has gone unheeded.
“The list is crucial so people know that no invisible hand is involved in the distribution of housing,” she emphasised. “But DBKL is still continuing to operate based on its whim and fancy. There is no way of tracking the basic requirements to qualify for housing, and when there is no rule of thumb or consistency, the whole process is then open to abuse.”
Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak (right), who was in Kota Kinabalu yesterday, was again prevented by his aides from receiving a memorandum on energy options for Sabah put together by Green Surf, an alliance of anti-coal NGOs in the state.
Yesterday, too, more than 400 villagers from Kampung Sinakut and Lahad Datu protested with banners at Sinakut, the proposed site of the plant in their area (left, artist’s impresion) or anywhere else in the state.
