Junaidi (left) receiving his letter of appointment from Abdul Wahap witnessed by Abang Johari during the swearing-in.

By Karen Bong

KUCHING, Sept 5: Kuching North City Hall (DBKU), looking to form a joint-committee with its South Kuching counterpart to oversee the state capital, has invited Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) into the fold.

DBKU new mayor Datu Junaidi Reduan welcomes MPP to be part of the proposed joint-committee for local councils managing the city.

In welcoming the formation of the joint-committee proposed by the new Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng, he emphasised that it will be extended to MPP, which is a stakeholder overseeing the city, to increase working collaboration toward a collective future of greater Kuching.

“I fully support the proposal. We have to work together closely with the two other councils (MBKS and MPP) for our community,” he told a press conference at the DBKU headquarters, here, today.

Junaidi was officially sworn in as the new mayor of DBKU in a ceremony witnessed by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and former mayor Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai.

On the timeline for the committee to be set up, he added: “We will meet up as soon as possible. In fact, I already had an informal discussion with the MBKS mayor.”

He suggested that city councillors have to sit down and meet first, to set their priorities right and chart the direction.

“For the vision of this city, it is not for individual but a collective responsibility,” he added.

Wee, on Tuesday (Aug 3), proposed the formation of the joint-committee to serve as the bridge for councils to identify and subsequently manage issues, especially those arising from common areas of responsibilities.

He viewed that the effort will enable local councils to allocate resources more efficiently and operate harmoniously, thereby making sure that Kuching residents could enjoy the best services.

On his plans for DBKU, Junaidi said he needed to ensure the vision of key stakeholders namely the government of the day, citizens of city north and DBKU itself become a reality.

”The city hall will stick with its existing plans implemented under the leadership of former mayor but issues and affairs will be discussed with council members to see improvements made from time to time.

“Datuk Wahap had been here for eight years and he had done an excellent job. It is a big shoe to fill and we will continue with his plans but of course we will need to make improvement,” he added.

He also called for closer working relationships with the media, which he described as one of the most important engines in building up the society. — DayakDaily