Be on your toes, heads of departments told

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KAJANG Municipal Council (MPKj) president Datuk Hasan Nawawi Abd Rahman has urged all directors and heads of departments to be prepared with answers to questions posed to them during full board meetings.

The council president was replying to a question from Bandar Sungai Long/Bandar Mahkota Cheras municipal councillor Tan Boon Wah, who wanted to know why heads of departments were not well-versed in their respective fields.

Tan said each time a question was raised at the full board, the respective heads were unable to provide with a reasonable answer and would direct the issues to the legal department.

“I would have preferred the respective department head to reply to my query as he knows best why an agreement or contract is given out to certain parties or individuals,’’ said Tan.

Tan said the respective department heads were merely being “rubber stamps” if they kept on passing their responsibility to the legal department.

Hasan Nawawi said although every agreement or contract issued must finally pass through the legal department, he reminded all department heads to know what their responsibilities were and at the same time be in a position to reply to queries put before them at the full board.

On another issue, Sg. Chua councillor P. Narayanan wanted a clarification on the Notice to Correct (NTC) given out during the month of July, August and September to errant contractors.

He told the board that he had requested a breakdown on the NTC issued for the three months on the contracts of five Alam Flora domestic waste contractors but were only provided with a cumulative number for the three months.

Narayanan said the board had unanimously decided at the August full board and at the committee levels to terminate the errant contractors and delay payments to contractors who were unable to perform but he said nothing has been done.

In February this year, Hasan Nawawi said the board would look into the NTC issue every three to five months and contractors will have their contracts terminated if they receive three NTCs.

Councillor T. Chandramohan said the Alam Flora contract should be reviewed and a new policy drawn up with other contractors on the mode of payments. He added that until September, a total of 330 NTCs were issued to Alam Flora contractors, and urged MPKj to terminate their services.