The government will implement the new model of the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) beginning next year

ALOR SETAR, July 21 (Bernama) -- The government will implement the new model of the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) beginning next year to strengthen grassroots leadership, said Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak Sunday.

According to the Prime Minister, the new model would place the age limit for the JKKK chairman at 65 years which was felt to be more reasonable.

"After the age of 70, it may be difficult (for the person) to carry out his work. If we were to use the age for civil servants, at 60 some say they still have the energy to work," he said at the breaking of fast between the Prime Minister and the Kedah state JKKK at the Dewan Wawasan Kubang Pasu, Jitra near here.

He said that among other things that would be implemented in the new model was to add knowledge gathering and effectiveness for JKKK leadership.

"We leave it to Shafie (Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, Rural and Regional Development Minister) to announce at the national level," he said.

Najib said the government had also decided to extend the duration of service for all JKKK which should have ended in June this year to the end of the year before the introduction of the new model.

He said the government always appreciated the role played by the JKKK and had raised the allowance of all the JKKK chairmen and secretaries besides the meeting allowance.

"The government can study the situation from time to time if it has the capacity," he said.

The Prime Minister was satisfied with the achievements of the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno at the Kedah state level with the wresting of Kedah from the opposition in the last general election.

"I am pleased with the best performance based on the number of seats wrested by Umno and the BN. (The number) has risen from four parliamentary seats to 10 seats and an addition of 14 State Assembly seats to 21 seats," he said.

The results in Kedah in the last general election was due to the support of the JKKK and it also showed the spirit of cooperation as well as the team spirit and loyalty which had been most encouraging.

"Without the spirit of loyalty it would not have been possible for us to win the last general election. If the Kedah Umno and BN had not worked as a team, we would not have succeeded," he said.

He hoped there would be a transformation in the immediate future and five years from now to fulfill the aspiration of the people.

"They had given the mandate because they wanted to test the PAS government for five years. A majority of the Kedah voters previously supported the opposition pact but have moved back to BN and Umno because of the failure (of the opposition pact) in fulfilling the promises of the opposition in the 2008 general election," he said.

At the function, Najib also handed out contributions to orphans from two religious schools in Kedah.

Also present at the function were Kedah Menteri Besar, Datuk Paduka Mukhriz Mahathir and Mohd Shafie.

-- BERNAMA