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In any administration, the head is the most important element. So, in Selangor, the MB is the most important person in the State Government. And in assessing the performance of the State Govt, we can assess the performance of the MB himself.
Tan Sri Khalid brings with him strong corporate background as the CEO of Guthrie Bhd. This is probably the first time that Selangor has a person of such a calibre. Therefore, the public has high expectations of him. However, as he has admitted on several occasions, he has no political experience.
Has this been a hindrance to his performance?
Let us look at a few incidents and discuss how it could have been handled differently.
1. Free water for first 20m3:
This is a populist move and went down well with the people.
Is this a wise move?
Not really. It does not encourage people to save water, a commodity which is becoming increasingly scarce, due to excessive demand and pollution of existing water catchments.
He would have done better if he had promoted rainwater harvesting by offering to pay for a water tank to collect rain water.
What are the advantages of this?
We have reduced the water flowing directly from the houses into the drains, thereby helping to reduce the impact of flooding. We are reducing the consumption of potable water, thus reducing the demand on existing water treatment plants. This is a one-off payment unlike the free 20m3 which could extend indefinitely. The water saved by this method is a cost saving to the people which is forever.
There may be some objections about mosquito breeding. This can be easily overcome by placing a mosquito netting over the holes in the tank.
Comment: His heart is in the right place. If he can change his offer to that of a tank, it can produce better results and avoid any dispute with Syabas over the free water.
2. Suggestion to offer 10% places to UITM:
He meant well here and it looked like a harmless suggestion. But he has not thought through the impact it can have on the Malays. UMNO played it up and went to town with it. Politically, it did a fair bit of damage to PKR, especially as it was during Anwar's by-election campaign in Permatang Pauh.
3. Monopoly on sand supply:
He decided that the Selangor Govt will monopolise the sand supply. I wrote advising him against it as governments have no business to be in business. Bureaucrats tend to mess things up and Selangor's performance in business has been abysmal. The law of unintended consequences came in. Previously, sand from the rivers was dredged by private operators and allowed to be sold. With the monopoly, apparently, this sand was not dredged and it caused the river bed to be raised up.
The recent floods were blamed on this. Of course, the PR MPs in the areas got whacked.
Results: Maybe RM 20 million on emergency sand dredging, which previously was free.
Matters of sand mining involves draining, geography and geology. The specialists in these fields should have been consulted before making decisions on sand mining. In any case, a proper study should have been carried out to identify sources of sand, the permissible rate of removal, the time period over which extraction can take place. These are matters beyond the competence of a corporate figure and he should have had the wisdom to consult experts in this field. Also, we should not ignore local experience of the sand operators themselves. They know things that we don't.
4. Selangor Land Task Force:
This was launched with great fanfare on 4 Jun 2008 with a promise to submit the report in 3 months, ie by 4 Sept 2008. We have met and dealt with the 2 co-chairmen. They are less than inspiring. So far, it is almost 5 months and we have not heard anything about this report yet. Is it sitting around gathering dust or has the Task Force asked for more time or even recommended another Task Force to carry out more studies? What is striking is that the majority of the task force committee were drawn from personnel from the land office. We have not heard of any land office in Peninsula Malaysia operating successfully. That means what is being tried here is to ask people who have never succeeded in running a land office system successfully to come up with recommendations on how to create a successful land office system.
We are not sure how governments run things but certainly, in the private sector we would never dream of such an approach.
Many people complain about the length of time taken to transfer a title. In Hong Kong, it takes 3 days, in Thailand 1 day, in Selangor 114 days! Land is under the charge of the MB. So the responsibility lies with him. Is he trying to take on too much on his shoulders? Should he not delegate the approval of land titles to the district land officer?
5. GLCs:
We would have expected that from day 1, the board of management of all the GLCs would have been reviewed and previous UMNO political appointees replaced. It is obvious, judging from the dismal performance of the GLCs, that these appointees are less than competent. Has this been done? Do we have competent and professional people manning the boards and changing the corrupt culture that existed previously? Are the staff professional and loyal to the government of the day?
The answer is obvious from the recent brouhaha over the appointment of the acting PKNS General Manager and the protests by the staff unions.
Hello, Mr. MB. You don't allow your staff to dictate to you who you can or cannot appoint to be the manager. These staff are guilty of gross insubordination. As a former CEO, you very well know what you have to do with them. For a start you don't pussy foot them.
6. Elected Local Government:
It appears to us that the State Government is dragging its feet over the issue, putting one excuse after another. See this: http://tindakmalaysia.com/tm_forums2008/index.php/topic,149.0.html
For the urban electorate, this can have severe repercussions for the Govt during the next elections.
Conclusion:
It is now coming to 7 months after Mar 8, 2008 when PR took over Selangor. The honeymoon period is over and we expect to see results. So far, what has been achieved is not enough, given the high expectations and hopes of the people. It is clear that the MB not only need management experience, he needs political experience. If he doesn't have it, he gets help from people who has it.
We suggest that PR bring in more people to help the MB and relief him of some of his heavy responsibilities. The areas that need urgent attention are:
1. GLCs: Do a complete review of the board of directors and senior management. Replace those that are not competent based on their past performance. Race alone is not enough as a qualification. Competency is equally important.
2. A joint Pakatan Rakyat committee to oversee what the Selangor Govt is doing and ensure that they conform to party policies and directives. The Selangor Govt has to fulfill the pledges made in the Malaysian Economic Agenda. Continue Reading Here
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