The new Ipoh mayor will be appointed within one month, said the State Executive Councillor for Housing, Local Government, Public Transport, Non-Islamic Affairs, and New Villages, Paul Yong Choo Kiong (above).

He said the candidate to replace former Ipoh mayor Zamri Man had already been chosen but the announcement could only be made after the swearing-in ceremony.

“The candidate is available... there have been rumours on who will be the candidate but we cannot announce the name until the swearing-in has been made,” he told journalists after attending the launch of a new Light Fire Rescue Tender for the Pekan Baru Voluntary Fire Squad (PBS), in Ipoh today.

Also present at the event were Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Nga Kor Ming and the Perak director of the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) Azmi Osman.

PBS Pekan Baru, which was set up in 2017, has 40 members who had assisted Perak JBPM in more than 250 cases of fire and special services throughout its establishment.

In April, Perak Menteri Besar Faizal Azumu announced the appointment of the new Ipoh mayor would be made at the end of last month and hinted that the new candidate would be a local who is conversant in Japanese and had received the consent of the Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah.

Meanwhile, Nga disclosed that two fire and rescue stations would be built in Perak, namely in Tambun and Kampung Gajah, which were expected to be ready next year.

"With the completion of both the new fire stations, Perak will have 34 fire stations with a membership of 1,111.

"This will further strengthen our fire brigade. I also wish to urge everyone to be wary because our estimated losses due to fire in Perak last year had reached RM60 million,” he added.

- Bernama