SUBANG JAYA: A proposal for local councils to be allowed to form auxiliary police units to help tackle the rising crime rate was raised again during a two-day Selangor budget forum.

“It’s time for all local authorities to have discussions with the police on how to form an auxiliary police force,” said Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

Khalid said such units would be able to ease the burden on the cops and allow them to concentrate on more serious crimes.

Auxiliary police could have a role in controlling traffic and patrolling neighbourhoods.

The dialogue session was attended by community leaders, state executive councillors, political leaders and representatives from the various state departments.

“We hope this dialogue will be able to give the public a chance to tell us what’s important to them and help us to work out the budget,” he said.

Among topics discussed at the session were education, infrastructure, development and welfare.

After listening to community leaders about what the people want, the state will be able to plan the budget according to the concerns and needs of the public.

During the press conference, Khalid further explained that this wasn’t an election budget but a serious discussion on how best to allocate funds for next year.

“We should approach the budget as a professional event, and not only focus on it during the election.”

Khalid said this in response to the RM500 handout given by the federal government under the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) programme.

He pointed out that this handout was a little too late and if they were sincere in giving something back to the people, they should have done it in 2008 and not when elections were around the corner.

“Giving away handouts at the last minute is an indication of poor governance as it shows bad planning. But you might as well take it because it’s your own money, or you will end up losing your tax money twice,” he said.

Meanwhile, Khalid said the federal government should organise dialogue sessions similar to this every year when they are mapping out the budget.

“They should invite all state governments and representatives from various government departments so they can hear from us too, about the needs in our community.”