Many Malaysians are at a loss on how local governments work in Malaysia. For home and property owners, it is very important to know who to approach when there are basic issues affecting the neighbourhood. These issues include things like cleanliness, security, water supply and others.

The Malaysian government system is divided into three layers. The federal government, state government and local councils. Local councils are the lowest of these layers but play a pivotal part of our lives as they are responsible for everyday operations like rubbish collection, cleaning blocked drains and fixing broken street lamps.

Therefore, the focus of this article shall be on the concept of local councils in Malaysia and how they can help your everyday life as a citizen and member of a community.

Local Council Structure

• Local councils are filled with councillors who are civil servants and not elected representatives (not politicians), unlike the state and federal leaders.
• They are under the authority of the state governments.
• The only area whose local governments are not under the state government is the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan which is under the Ministry of Federal territories.
• Local governments are headed by a President (Yang Di-Pertua) for rural areas and small towns or a Mayor (Datuk Bandar) for big cities.
• There are four types of local governments currently:
1. City Hall ( Dewan Bandaraya) or City Council (Majlis Bandaraya)
2. Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran)
3. District Council (Majlis Daerah)
4. Special or modified local council (Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan)

The type of local council in an area depends on factors like population, infrastructure, amenities and local income generated.

The Functions of a Local Council

• Control over local land development
• Providing cleaning and sanitation services including drain cleaning, rubbish collections and grass cutting
• Setting up local clinics and healthcare services
• Maintenance of parks and recreational areas
• Providing affordable public housing
• Maintain and fix roads
• Manage shops and market areas
• Maintain and built water supplies and pipes
• Maintain and built sewerage systems

Who do I contact in case of any problems?

You can always send an e-mail, call, fax or write a letter to your local government office and you will be directed to the councillor in charge of the section your problem falls in. In many countries worldwide, local government councillors are elected by the citizens, but this is not the case in Malaysia.

People often make the mistake of assuming that their elected representative (politicians) of the higher government levels, whether ADUN (State Assemblymen) or MP (Member of Parliament) directly control local government and can order people around to solve problems. This is not how the system works and your ADUNs and MPs can only push or highlight a certain matter to the civil servants working in your local government. They do not have absolute authority in the local government and they need to work within the system, whereby the head of your local government is the Yang DiPertua or Mayor.

However, in some larger and more severe circumstances, your ADUN and MP can help to draw public interest and publicity to it, for example to the rise of dengue cases in your area, or if crime is a persistent problem. They can also highlight these larger issues to the state and parliamentary levels.

However, since here we are talking about basic issues like clogged drains or dirty parks, we suggest you deal directly with your local government personnel.

Now that you are more familiar with the hierarchy, we hope you find use for it in the future to make your community cleaner, greener and safer for all.