Residents outraged hardworking councillor hastily dropped
Members of the residents representative council say MBPJ should have consulted them before deciding to drop councillor Shatiri Mansor.
The group, comprising members of civil society organisations and the Zone 3 Residents Representatives Council, covering Sections 3 to 12 of Kota Damansara, Sunway Damansara and Kampung Selamat Sungai Buloh, requested an explanation on the matter within 24 hours.
“He still has four months left on his service, which ends on Dec 31. So why has he been so hastily dropped?
“We would like to express our concerns over the unjust way he has been dropped, with the council not taking into account the opinions and sentiments of the residents.
“We should have been consulted before a decision was made. Furthermore, residents have already discussed and arranged many programmes until year-end, which will now be disrupted,” they said in a statement.
The group said the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) must be transparent and professional, and hear the residents out before taking action.
They added that MBPJ should act according to procedure by giving sufficient notice before dropping someone as councillor, warning that this could become a precedent for future dismissals.
“In our opinion, Shatiri has carried out his duties with much dedication and excellence in spite of racial, religious and political differences.
“We view him as a community leader who looks after the interests of all residents. He provided good service and is also very approachable,” they said.
Shatiri was appointed as councillor in September 2014, and since then had gone to the ground with many initiatives, the group said.
One of his achievements was the establishment of the council, with 40 members comprising heads of residents’ associations, joint management bodies, Rukun Tetangga, suraus and places of worship within Zone 3.
“This has greatly benefitted the residents and also MBPJ in resolving community problems,” they said.
Zone 3 is the biggest under the MBPJ jurisdiction, with some 80,000 residents.
According to the group, the council held five meetings, all of which were chaired by Shatiri.
“He also attended 170 programmes in the zone from last year until June this year.
“We were made to understand that the attendance for Shatiri’s programmes is the highest among all MBPJ councillors.
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“A total of 55 applications from 35 associations in this zone were also submitted for the Petaling Jaya Neighbourhood Security Team Programme grant, and with Shatiri’s support, the grants were received on Aug 18,” they said.