PETALING JAYA, Jan 30 — Two Selangor assemblymen urged Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali today to punish the Petaling Jaya mayor for allegedly expelling councillors during a board meeting and for tampering with the city council’s recordings of the meeting.
The DAP representatives’ complaint to Azmin’s office also highlighted PJ mayor Datuk Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain’s orders for reporters to leave the room during yesterday’s meeting, and had them erase recordings of the board meeting on their mobile phone.
The councillors are also challenging the decision-making process undertaken by Mohd Azizi over his unilateral decision to award a perfect plot ratio score to KUB Malaysia Sdn Bhd (KUB) for its office-building project at the A&W site along Lorong Sultan.
“I am extremely disappointed with how the meeting was conducted because it contradicts the Selangor’s broad policy of being a transparent government,” said Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin.
“Even in the state assembly, we would never have video archives removed, and never had a situation where the speaker ejected anyone from the meeting, it is disrespectful to them,” she said.
Yeo said such actions directly contradicted state policy, claiming it was a big offence committed by the mayor.
“He is appointed by the state, and therefore is obliged to practise transparency as required by the state.
“I think there should be action taken against this, but the final decision is under the chief minister’s jurisdiction,” she said.
Yeo then extended a challenge to the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to re-upload videos of the fiery board meeting, claiming they had something to hide with the removal of the videos.
“They should put the videos out there so people can see how the meeting was conducted, whether it was done fairly or not,” she said.
“I hope for a remedy by the mayor, and for MBPJ to practise what has been done by the Selangor government,” she said.
Meanwhile, Bukit Gasing assemblyman R. Rajiv said he was surprised to see reporters being asked to leave the meeting and to erase their recordings.
“Never have they done that before and that is not right,” he said.
Rajiv added in his many years as an assemblyman, never has he seen auxiliary police being instructed to escort councillors out.
“This is the first time I am aware of such treatment since PJ became a city council. Arguments are normal, but never have I encountered ejection.
“Maybe the decision was made in the spur of the moment, or because the mayor was already feeling agitated with the debate,” he said.
Fellow MBPJ councillor Sean Oon, one of the councillors who was escorted out by auxiliary police from yesterday’s meeting, said Mohd Azizi should also explain his decision in awarding the perfect plot ratio score to KUB.
Oon pointed out the least the chairman of the One Stop Centre (OCS), who is also the PJ mayor, could do was to explain to the people why he made the decision, after having admitted to it.
“As a councillor, we are accountable for the decision of the OSC, we have the right to know why and what you had approved.
“He just said during the meeting the decision is final without explaining, but saying it three times does not make it more correct than saying it once.”
Oon said Mohd Azizi had also failed to reveal to the meeting why he chose to give preferential treatment to the project in question.
