Peak of excellence event lauds Petaling Jaya city

PETALING Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has been awarded the Excellent Local Authority Award (City) at the inaugural Local Government Development Ministry’s (KPKT) Ministerial Excellence 2023 award ceremony.

Held in Kuala Lumpur, the ceremony saw MBPJ come out ahead of other local councils, namely Ipoh City Council, Iskandar Puteri City Council, Johor Baru City Council and Subang Jaya City Council, for the award.

Themed “Peak of Excellence”, the awards ceremony, brainchild of Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming, aims to motivate those in the ministerial team to strive for excellence in terms of task implementation, leadership, innovation and social aspects.

The award also recognises contributions and successes of ministry and local council members in improving service quality, especially in the community.

Aznan (front row, fourth from left) receiving the Smart City Rating Award 2023 – Smart City Early Adopter from Noor Azman. (Below) Aznan (middle) with the Excellent Local Authority Award (City), flanked by Nga (to his right) and Fadillah at the inaugural KPKT Ministerial Excellence 2023 awards.

It honours excellent performance and a work force that is progressive, viable and dynamic in boosting system effectiveness and delivery of services in their respective localities.

A total of 12 categories were contested including eight awards for individual categories, such as Ministerial Excellence Award, KPKT Diamond Award, Best Leadership Award and Best PBT Leadership Award.

The other four were team categories, namely KPKT Green Award, Prosperous Organisation Award, Most Responsive Organisation Award and Excellent Local Authority Award.

Present to receive this award was Petaling Jaya deputy mayor Aznan Hassan.

The award ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof and Nga.

Earlier, MBPJ won two awards at Malaysia Urban Planning Awards (Mupa) held in conjunction with World City Planning Day 2023.

The city council won the Sustainable City Award 2023 and Smart City Rating Award 2023 – Smart City Early Adopter.

The Sustainable City Award is given to the authority that has a good grasp of six main elements – competitive economy; quality environment; thriving community; optimal usage of land and natural resources; efficient infrastructure and transport; and effective governance.

Petaling Jaya was also recognised as a smart city based on the following indicators – city services requested online; construction permits through esubmission; epayment to the city; online booking for public recreation and sports facilities; and digital surveillance cameras.

Other indicators taken into consideration are the city’s use of smart streetlights with performance systems, refurbished or newly installed street lighting, parking space with epayment systems, intelligent or smart traffic lights and fast broadband.

The awards were presented by KPKT secretary-general Datuk Wira M. Noor Azman Taib to Aznan at the Putrajaya Corporation building.

In a statement, MBPJ said, “The awards are an achievement for all personnel.

“MBPJ will continue to provide efficient and effective service, in line with the high expectations of the stakeholders and Petaling Jaya residents.

“MBPJ is also committed to implementing various initiatives to improve the country’s economy while benefitting the people of Petaling Jaya so that they can enjoy a quality life.”

Themed “Malaysia Madani Komuniti Sejahtera”, Mupa is in line with the government’s development agenda and the ministry’s focus of leveraging community involvement in city development through effective governance.