COMMENT Both former menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim and present Menteri Besar Azmin Ali deserve to be credited for higher reserves accumulated by the state since the Pakatan government came into power in 2008.

To date, the state’s reserves have hit a total of RM4 billion, compared to RM3.23 billion at the end of 2015. Within the first five-and-half months of this year, a total of RM1.65 billion revenue or 73.3 percent of the target of RM2.25 billion has been accumulated.

This is indeed an achievement in itself for the state government, which could not have been matched by its predecessors.

With the increase in the government’s coffers, the civil servants in Selangor have also received salary increments twice in 2016. All that the state had to allocate was an additional RM6.83 million, which is nothing compared to RM2.36 billion that went into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s private accounts.

Benefitting the people

Within the next 18 months or so, I urge the menteri besar to put his money where his mouth is. In the past two years, I have seen some upgrading of public amenities, especially the roads done to my area and the five-foot walkways have been properly upgraded.

In some areas, the public drains have also been improved, solving an important issue with flash floods and subsequent damage done to the roads. A new set of streetlights has also been installed in place of the old streetlights.

However, there is still a lot more to be done. There are still many roads that do not have streetlights. It is not only places like Tanjung Sepat and Sekinchan that do not have streetlights along the main roads, even some roads in the suburban and urban areas do not have streetlights.

For example, the old Selayang-Kepong highway between the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (Frim) and the entrance to Selayang Jaya does not have any streetlights. Despite promises made by former Umno state assemblyperson Saidin Thamby, the streetlights have never been installed.

One observation that I made while visiting places like Sekinchan and Tanjung Sepat is the lack of public amenities in these towns. A major problem that they have is with clogged drains, which leave behind a strong stench in the area.

Because some of these rural towns are now the drivers of domestic tourism, efforts must be made to improve the facilities in these towns, without of course, altering too much of the ‘rural’ landscape in these towns.

For example, simple but reasonably nice public toilets that should be well-maintained instead of ones costing a million ringgit to build but are not sustainable. It is sometimes a challenge to find even a clean public toilet to use for the locals, what more when we have overseas guests with us.

To avoid congestion in these towns, it is about time that the local government provides sufficient carparks and allow the locals to provide simple shuttle services to move tourists around from one place to another.

At least half of the reserves should be used for both development for the benefits of the people and on projects that can help increase productivity and income for the future.

Solar panels can be installed at orphanages and old folk homes, for example, that will provide them a long-term stream of income, tapping into the green energy fund and feed-in-tariffs.

There is a lot of work to be done to improve the livelihood of the Orang Asli in Selangor as well, who have been largely neglected by the federal government.

What if?

The people I have spoken to mostly agree with me that money is to be used wisely for the benefit of the people.

What’s the use of having RM4 billion in the state coffers when the people do not get to benefit from it? Supposing if in the next general election, Barisan Nasional is able to take over the state government, what will happen to the reserves? Will it again end up into someone’s private accounts, this time, claiming it to be a donation from the Eskimos in the Arctic?

There are a lot of speculations and ‘what if?’, but one thing is certain - money in the coffers will be gone in no time when a corrupt government comes into power.

After all, whatever money that is there should be pumped back into the state’s economy to generate more economic growth. I end with the parable of the good steward.

There were three stewards. One was given RM1 million to manage. The other RM2 million, and the third RM3 million. The first steward took the RM1 million to hide it under the pillow, the second steward used the money to build hotels that generate some long-term income.

The third steward was the wisest of all. He used part of the money to go into the agriculture, tourism and services industry. At the end of the period, when the boss sought an account from all three stewards, the first one was reprimanded and the money taken back, and given to the one with RM3 million.

This is what it is for a good government, it is the stewardship of the people’s money. If properly managed, it will generate more wealth and eventually benefit the people of Selangor. Can we expect that bit more from Azmin in his next term as menteri besar? Meanwhile, what will he do with RM4 billion in the state’s coffers?

Tanjung Sepat is one thriving place

Sekinchan town a model of success to be emulated

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.