PETALING JAYA: The Selangor government yesterday organised a dialogue session with the local community to gather feedback and suggestions that should be considered by the state when drawing up the 2013 state budget.
Selangor executive council member of tourism, consumer affairs, and environment Elizabeth Wong said the dialogue will help the state collect feedback to personalise the state budget.
"We provide the platform to receive the people's wish list, which we will then use to draw up a more comprehensive budget," she said after officiating the dialogue session.
Petaling Jaya City Council Mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman said the state government has always given the people a space to voice their opinions, ideas and feedback on the various initiatives to help build the economy and preserve harmony.
"We hope these suggestions will help strengthen the 2013 budget."
On the issue of restructuring of water in Selangor, those present suggested the state provide free water for households with an average income below RM3,000 and tap into rain harvesting methods.
They also called on the state to not privatise the amenity and maintain the 20 cubic metre free water quota for each household.
Section 12 resident association president R. Surian suggested that the state should prioritise traffic congestion problems in Petaling Jaya.
"I think that the state should freeze all further development until they come up with a master plan to address the traffic congestion.
"The state should come up with a holistic plan as compared to the current state of affairs where each developer only builds amenities for their project without considering neighbouring areas.
Echoing this sentiment was Rukun Tetangga section 6 chairman M. Rajesh, who said there should be more dialogue sessions conducted with the local community and other authorities.
"The state should engage the various parties concerned to come up with a plan for Petaling Jaya and Selangor."
During the session yesterday, 50 residents presented their views in groups of eight and their views were later gathered by the council's macro department and privatisation chief assistant director Nazma Shafini Marlizan.
Nazma later summarised the views of the residents, who wanted the state to increase the number of affordable housing schemes.
The residents also suggested the state come up with a comprehensive flash flood prevention mechanism and wanted joint management bodies to be monitored.
A number of residents had also urged the state to increase facilities for the disabled around the city and free skills training for sidelined and jobless youths.
Other suggestions include the introduction of "no car" zones and more city buses and for there to be incentives offered to hybrid car owners.
Other issues raised were the need for elections at council level, maintenance grants for places of worship and a separate budget to tackle vandalism.