With only two more months to go before the end of the year, Parti Socialis Malaysia (PSM) is urging Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali to fulfill a promise to implement local government elections.

 

In an open letter to Azmin today, PSM's general-secretary S Arutchelvan highlighted several issues he said required urgent attention.

 

“According to previous Selangor executive councillor Teng Chang Khim, the Selangor government had promised to implement these elections before the year end,”  he asserted.

Arutchelvan ( right ) held that local elections will greatly benefit the community and local authorities.

 

“Democratic elections will ignite grassroot democratic processes and improve the quality and performance of the local council members and government,” he said.

 

He added that PSM is anxiously waiting to see whether this promise will be followed through

PSM, he said, also urges Azmin to restore the Badan Bertindak Tanah Orang Asli Selangor (BBTOAS) which was dissolved during the Selangor MB crisis.

 

In order to preserve the rights of the aboriginal people in Malaysia, the government must implement the Orang Asli Land Reservation Enactment and start gazetting their lands as soon as possible, he added.

 

Also highlighted in the letter was the failed promise to formulate a new enactment to protect estate workers affected when land they work on is taken for development.

 

Arutchelvan also praised the policy to increase the minimum wage for GLC employees under the state government to RM1,500. But there were others employed by the state being paid less, and he hoped they too, would get at least the minimum wage.

He also pointed out there were also quite a number of abandoned projects in dire need of Azmin's direct intervention, pointing out that some projects have been abandoned for up to 24 years, with no action from the elected representatives.