THERE are other matters Pakatan Harapan (PH) needs to prioritise instead of local government elections, Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming said.

Speaking to a group of journalists in a special pre-Chinese New Year interview recently, he said economic revival measures top the list of issues the people want prioritised.

Nga said surveys, feedback and collected opinions have shown that local government elections are not what the people want right now.

DAP, a key member of the ruling PH coalition, is of the position that local government representatives must be elected.

Nga said DAP’s push for local government elections is a way to maintain democratic practices, but current circumstances mean polls have to be shelved for the government to focus on the economy and alleviate the people’s burdens.

“We have to improve people’s lives first. That’s the government’s focus right now.”

Nga said it is pointless to hold local government elections when people are struggling to survive.

“Frankly, I want to have local government elections, but that’s not what the people want.”

He said if the people’s problems are not taken care of first, PH could lose the elections.

“What the people want comes first. Mine is second.”

100-day goals

In giving journalists a peek at his 100-day “report card”, Nga said after 40 days, seven key “new deal” targets have been met or are well on track to be met.

He said some “were not just met, but exceeded”.

The first of his seven goals was to eradicate 100 illegal landfills.

He said in 40 days, he has already had 68 of them removed.

The second was to complete 4,713 affordable homes.

He said the affordable homes will be completed within 100 days and owners will receive keys to their new abodes.

His third goal was to open 100 new hawker centres so traders can earn a living, while the fourth was to build four new fire stations in Kuala Lumpur, Perak and Sarawak.

Replacing and upgrading 12 lifts at the Kota Damansara flats was his fifth target, while his sixth was to render the first waste-to-energy power plant in Port Dickson operational.

The plant is designed to reduce the disposal of waste from local landfills by 90%.

His seventh goal was to upgrade and improve the infrastructure at two traditional food markets in Kota Baru, Kelantan, and Ipoh, Perak. – January 26, 2023.