IPOH: The Housing and Local Government Ministry has been urged to review the appointments of some of its new village development officers in Perak.

       Perak Youth Assembly Malim Nawar representative Wong Chin Ho said some of these officers were not locals and came from other states.

       Wong said, for example, the officer in charge of Kampar is from Penang while the Selama officer is from Kedah.

       He said if they were traveling to their respective districts, this would incur substantial mileage claims.

       "A trip from Penang to Kampar is close to 200km and a round trip is about 400km," he said, adding that the mileage claim is between 55 and 65 sen per kilometre.

       "There are also claims for fuel, toll, accommodation and food. It could amount to thousands of ringgit," he added.

       He also said that a few officers were not from local districts but from other parts of the state.

       "The officer in charge of Hilir Perak is from Slim River while the one in charge of Batang Padang is from Hutan Melintang.

       He added that the ministry needed to review the appointment as the country should be cutting costs.

       Wong also said some officers were in charge of multiple districts in Perak and would have difficulty overseeing so many.

       The ministry's Chinese affairs adviser and Malim Nawar state assemblyman, Leong Cheok Keng, said he would bring the matter up with minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin.

       "I have not had the chance to talk to the minister but I will take it up to her. We will also need to hear from the officers as well," he said.