KUCHING (Nov 30): All political parties wishing to display their respective flags in public places must apply for the permit from the city council, said Kuching South Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng.

Highlighting this in his weekly Facebook Live session 'Shall WEE Talk' on Saturday, he said the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) had never discriminated against any political party with regard to the application of such permit.

"In the past, the SUPP (Sarawak United People's Party) Pending branch and Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii's team submitted their applications to put up their respective party flags.

"Every political party must comply with the rules and regulations - there is no exception.

"The MBKS will uphold impartiality and process all applications accordingly," he said.

Wee made these remarks in response to a netizen who enquired if it was lawful for a local political party to display its party flags outside a hotel in an area under the jurisdiction of MBKS.

Wee said: "The city council reserves every right to remove party flags that are displayed without a permit.

"If any political party displays its flags without any approval from us (MBKS), we will take them down because it is against the regulations."

On another subject, the mayor announced that MBKS would start rolling out dumpsters in residential areas within its jurisdiction next month.

"These massive bins are meant for residents to dispose of their bulky waste.

"We hope our people will make full use of them and keep our environment clean and tidy," he said.

For more information about the areas and dates, go to https://mbks.sarawak.gov.my, or facebook.com/CounciloftheCityofKuchingSouth.

On rabies, Wee said Sarawak had not recorded any new cases involving animals for three consecutive weeks.