Bringing back local elections will probably remain a dream. Let’s try to increase the number of local councils in Penang instead; there are good reasons for it.
It has been 37 years since the enactment of the Local Government Act 1976 which, among other things, enabled state governments to undertake major restructuring of their local authorities. In the case of Penang, then Chief Minister Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu had already restructured the local government two years earlier by reducing five local authorities to two boards of management, namely Lembaga Pengurusan Kerajaan Tempatan Pulau Pinang and Lembaga Pengurusan Kerajaan Tempatan Seberang Perai.
The names were changed to Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang (MPPP) and Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai (MPSP) in 1976 following the enactment of the Local Government Act.
Unfortunately, so far, very little has been written about the reasons for this reduction of five local councils to two. The two committees tasked with investigating the restructuring proposal, one on legal matters and the other on feasibility of integration, did not delve into the reasons for the restructuring.
