Photo: Ronnie Chin/The Star
TAIPING: The first phase of appointing new Malay village heads in Perak is expected to start soon, says Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.
The Perak Mentri Besar said the first stage would be the appointment of chiefs at Malay villages located in the 33 state constituencies where the unity government had won.
“For that, we need to carry out the proper selection accordingly. For the 33 constituencies, the village head will be appointed before the state assembly sitting on May 22," said Saarani.
He said this after attending the meet the people session at the Advance Technology Training Centre here on Thursday (May 11).
Saarani said in total there are 829 Malay villages, 158 Chinese villages, and seven Indian villages.
He said the Chinese and Indian village heads have already been appointed.
“It is only the chiefs of Malay villages that have yet to be appointed. I want to ensure that those appointed fulfill all the necessary criteria, and that mistakes made when working with the previous government are not repeated,” said Saarani.
He said previously there were instances where a person who was not from the village was appointed to become the chief of some of the villages.
“Of course the people in the villages were upset. Then there were also cases of some of the village heads not fulfilling the age criteria," said Saarani.
“To ensure that this is not repeated, proper screening is carried out to make sure the candidates are worthy of helming the position,” he added.
Saarani said the criteria that the village head stays at the respective village was also followed strictly.
“I am being very careful in the process,” he added.
