Head of Asir Municipal Council quits

RIYADH – Head of Asir Municipal Council Mustafa Aziz has handed in his resignation to the minister of municipal and rural affairs in protest against the working of the Asir Municipality and the ministry’s refusal to heed to his many requests, Al-Hayat daily reported. “I have resigned from this post because the municipality and the ministry did not treat us as representatives of the Asir Council. We cannot meet the minister because our names have not been put in the visit sheet log on purpose. We are being ignored intentionally although the council was formed by a royal decree and it runs under the ministry. We want to be forthright with citizens and we want them to know that we are being ignored,” he said. The members of the council were nominated by citizens and charged with different tasks. It is difficult for the members to perform their duties if they cannot meet with the decision-makers, he said, accusing Asir Municipality of marginalizing his achievements. The municipality did not give the members a chance to participate and voice their opinion and suggestions regarding the latest rain floods. “We have suspended the duties of the council in the past when the municipality ignored us. I want people to know that we, the members, have carried out our duties duly and worked hard to cooperate with the municipality for the greater good of the region but with no avail,” he noted. Regarding the performance of municipal councils, Aziz said the regulations the government have laid down for the council are strong but have not been put into practice because of the influence of some municipalities which intervene in the work of the councils. Al-Hayat attempts to contact Asir Mayor Salih Al-Qadhi for a response failed.