Kuching South City Council
| Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan | |
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 1 August 1988 |
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| Jurisdiction | Southern part of the City of Kuching |
| Headquarters | Jalan Padungan, 93675 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia |
| Motto | My City, My Future (Bandarayaku, Masa Depanku) |
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| Website | www |
The Council of the City of Kuching South (Malay: Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Utara, abbreviated MBKS) is the city council which administers the southern part of the city of Kuching in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. This council was established after the city was officially granted city status on 1 August 1988. Their jurisdiction covers an area of 61.53 square kilometres.
The council consists of the mayor plus thirty councillors appointed to serve a one-year term by the Sarawak State Government. DBKU is responsible for public health and sanitation, waste removal and management, town planning, environmental protection and building control, social and economic development and general maintenance functions of urban infrastructure.
During the days of the Brooke Administration, some semblances of the functions of the Council were performed by the Public Works Department. Sir Charles Vyner Brooke was installed as the Third Rajah on 22 July 1918. In 1921 the Kuching Sanitary and Municipal Advisory Board was formed. Following a new legislation, the Board became the Municipal Authority for Kuching on 1 January 1934 marking the early beginning of what would in due course become the local authority for Kuching, known as the Kuching Municipal Board.
At the outbreak of hostilities in 1941, the Central Government was giving consideration to the question of according full municipal status to the Board, but the war interrupted this and the question was not considered again until the resumption of Civil Government in 1946, at which time Sarawak had also become a colony of Great Britain.
In 1947, it was found neccessary to introduce a modified form of Committee System as the work of the Board had grown to such as extent as to make it impracticable for the Municipal Commissioners to deal with the various problems of administration in a single monthly meeting.
In 1949, His Excellency the Governor directed that the Chairman of the Kuching Municipal Board should submit a comprehansive detailed scheme to convert the Municipality into a local government entity, financially self-supporting and managing its own affairs, subject to such safeguards as might be deemed adviseable. As a result of this action the Municipality became autonomous on 1 January 1953.
The Municipal Council at this time was formed on a purely racial basis of twenty-four representatives of the public, with a British Officer as Chairman. His Excellency the Governor in Council appointed the Chairman, as he also did six other Councillors of various nationalities who represented different interests in the lives of the local community. The other eighteen Councillors with approval of His Excellency were nominated by the various Associations, who looked after the interest of the Chinese, Malay, Indian, Ceylonese, Dayak and British communities.
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Wikipedia