Dilema integriti dalam pelaksanaan penguatkuasaan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan di Negeri Kedah

Enforcement is a very important administrative aspect in the Local Authority (LA) as it involves close relation with people. Failure of the enforcers will portray a negative image surrounding the LA. Significant weaknesses exist due to the political intervention that disrupts the smooth enforcement operation implementation besides
the influence of inefficient recource management and some confusing procedures. Based on this framework, this study is carried out to unravel the issue in relation to LA enforcement including the involvement of political members in the LA administration, to identify the level of resource management handled by the LA and to assess community acceptance of the recent procedure application and recognizing a suitable encorcement implementation model. This study involves three type of LAs in Kedah namely the District Council, City Council and Town Council. The qualitative method was selected by way of interviewing 28 informants who have relevant experience with
LA enforcement and administration operations in addition to 15 individuals involved with the LA enforcement implementation. Three categories of informants were involved in this study, involving public servants, political members and traders in the study area. The study outcome reveals that the weaknesses of the enforcement are
influenced by political intervention that spurs individuals to fall into the act of discriminating against other parties, race and social class, in addition to manipulating their positions in the LA. Further, the failure in resource management also influences the enforcement effectiveness whereby limited financial allocation restricts the LA in
the enforcement process. Moreover, this study also finds that there are several procedures that have not been updated and are confusing to the individuals liaising with the LA. Hence, this study suggests an enforcement development model that leans on the aspect of integrity so that improvement can be carried out consistent with the views put forth by all three categories of the informants, because through high value of personality, LA performance can be enhanced and confidence renewed towards the services delivered by the LA.