MESSAGES
Ipoh City Council is a Local Authority set up by the British since 1893 and was known as Ipoh Sanitary Board. It had gone through various administrations from town board to town council and Ipoh Municipal Council in 1962. It was subsequently declared as Ipoh City Council on 27 May 1988. Currently, Ipoh City Council covers an area of 643 sq km with population of 560,000. There are 12 departments with various functions to provide quality services to the taxpayers. The main objective of Ipoh City Council is to provide sanitation and welfare services to Ipoh residents, maintaining the public hygiene and health, city services, planning and development control, traffic management, building maintenance and infrastructure, licensing and enforcement of the Local Authority’s by-laws. Nowadays, MBI’s role has been expanded that it includes tourism and industrial promotions.
As public officers who deal closely with the community, the Local Authority must be aware of the community’s needs. However, only the needs that are beneficial and progressive will be heeded, not those needs that is detrimental to the society.I am very proud as there are a few areas which are developing rapidly. One of them is the Greentown Business Centre with a collective development that involves private higher education institution, government agency, shopping centre and recreational areas. The latest project is the construction of offices buildings near Ipoh City Square and Greentown Suria that incorporate Pusat Rawatan Islam and an 8-storey administrative building as well as apartment units and 3-storey offices. Other areas are at Kinta City and TESCO, Tambun, with the development of Tambun City and at Lahat, with the development of Bandar Sri Botani.
South Chemor area will also be developed as halal-hub while Meru will be developed as the satellite area to Ipoh City. An area of 37 acres which currently is the location of squatters area, MBI quarters, workshop, depot and Town Services Office, has been approved to be developed, in line with the state’s policy to eradicate squatters area (zero squatters) by 2015. This site will be developed so that the residents will also enjoy the progress just like the surrounding areas. The squatters will be relocated to a new area which is more suitable and comfortable to live in. I believe that the change of toll location from Jalan Jelapang to Jalan Kuala Kangsar is a blessing to the city as it is nearer to the city centre.
I call upon all MBI community as members of the third-level government i.e. the Local Authority, to always fulfil their responsibility with full dedication and always consider the rakyat’s interest when carrying out their duties. We are the ones who will enjoy the benefits if the city is beautiful. Visitors will only enjoy the benefits temporarily but as we are the ones who live here, I am sure we would like the best for ourselves. As such, we should always provide the best services so that we could enjoy the best results too.
(Dato' Haji Roshidi bin Haji Hashim)
DPMP.,AMP., PPT., PJK
Ipoh Mayor.
