Johor Bahru City Council (MBJB; Malay: Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru) is the city council which administrates Johor Bahru city centre and other areas of the Iskandar Malaysia area in Johor, Malaysia. This agency is under Johor state government. MBJB are 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.
History
Town board and town council
Former headquarters at Jalan Dato Onn, now one of the branch offices of the City Council. Its Enforcement, Health and Urban Transportation Departments still remain in this building.
Johor Bahru City Council's history begins with the establishment of the Town Board (Malay: Lembaga Bandaran) in 1910, with office at the Harbour Board (Syahbandar) Building near Sungai Segget that also housed offices of other departments like Survey, Public Works and Post Office. The administration comprised the President, Deputy President, Principal Medical Officer, Chief Commissioner of Police and several committee figures. In 1927, Sultan Ibrahim ordered the these offices to move into the former Johore Hotel Building at Jalan Ibrahim.[4]
Town Council (Malay: Majlis Bandaran) was established under Local Election Ordinance in 1950 to replace the town board. The Councillors at the time consisted of President Secretary (Johor Civil Service Oflicer), Assistant Financial Officer Building Inspector, Town Supervisor, Heaith Inspectors, Town Board Inspectors, notice senders, peons and clerks. Council elections were held since 1952 until these were suspended in 1965.
Status
Year
Area (in sq km)
Town Board
1933
12.12
1949
13.85
Town Council
1956
48.99
1962
68.42
1976
80.53
Johor Bahru Municipal Council
Johor Bahru Municipal Council (Malay: Majlis Perbandaran Johor Bahru) was established in 1 April 1977 with an area of 119.50 square kilometres (46.14sqmi), through merger of Town Council with Pandan and Kangkar Tebrau Local Councils on 1 April 1977 following local authorities restructuring in Johor under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1976 (Act 171).[5][6] In 1992, Johor Bahru's revenue stood at RM 63 million, a requirement for a town to be elevated to a city. The eight departments under the municipal council were the Valuation, Enforcement, Urban Services, Health and Licences, Finance, Planning, Engineering and Secretary departments.[7]
Johor Bahru City Council
Johor Bahru was granted city status on 1 January 1994 with initial city limit of 186 square kilometres (72sqmi).[8][9] Four housing estates of Taman Daya, Taman Megah Ria, Kota Puteri Township and Taman Rinting were transferred from Johor Bahru Tengah to the newly-declared city.[10] Its city status was officially declared by the late Sultan Iskandar at midnight during a celebration ceremony attended by more than 400,000 residents at the newly built Johor Bahru City Square. The erstwhile Johor Bahru Municipal Council was also upgraded as the Johor Bahru City Council simultaneously on that day, with Yahya Hashim sworn in as its first mayor.
The new city council's non profit charity arm, the Johor Bahru City Foundation (Malay: Yayasan Bandaraya Johor Bahru, YBJB) was the brainchild of Muhyiddin Yassin, then the Menteri Besar of Johor as well as the Municipal Council's President. It was earlier corporatised on 9 December 1993 under the Trustee Act 1952 (Incorporation) to assist the poor, the disabled and the needy communities. The Foundation was launched by fourth Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad on 21 January 1995 at the MBJB Indoor Stadium in Larkin, and currently headquartered at the Johor Tourist Information Centre (JOTIC).[11]
In 2000, first parts of Tebrau area added and transferred from Johor Bahru Tengah, increase the city limit to 220 square kilometres (85sqmi).[12]
On a 2 July 2014 meeting, the Johor State Government decided to transfer parts of Pulai Mukim across Skudai River along Jalan Ismail Sultan, Second parts of Tebrau Mukim, West parts of Plentong Mukim and a small portion of Sungai Tiram Mukim from Johor Bahru Tengah Municipal Council (now Iskandar Puteri City Council) to the city council through a redelination exercise that came into effect on 1 January 2016, while areas around Taman Rinting and Sierra Perdana ceded to Pasir Gudang Municipal Council (now Pasir Gudang City Council), resulted in the current city limit of 373.18 square kilometres (144.09sqmi).
MBJB Tower
On 1 January 2020, Johor Bahru City Council moved its headquarters to the new state-of-the-art 15-storey-tall MBJB Tower. It is located within Astaka Holdings Limited Group’s flagship mixed development, One Bukit Senyum in Plentong Mukim, just outside the City Centre. The building has a gross floor area of approximately 442,810 square feet and 583 car park lots across 7 basements or lower ground floors, considered the deepest in Johor State with 28 metres of depth. It includes modern facilities mostly with smart technologies like a 300-capacity auditorium, a 1000-capacity hall, counters, a nursery for staff use and a cafeteria.[13][14]
On 28 November 2016, MBJB acquired the site from Astaka Group's subsidiary–Astaka Padu Sdn Bhd with a cost of RM 308 million. Construction of MBJB Tower began on 3 April 2017 and was completed on 11 December 2019. The new building was launched by Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar on the 24th of March 2022.[15]
While most of the City Council's offices, departments and units have moved to the new building, only the Law Enforcement, Health and Urban Transportation Departments still remain at the Jalan Dato Onn Building.[16]
Integrity and Administration Modernisation (Integriti dan Permodenan Pentadbiran)
Corporate & Public Relations (Korporat & Perhubungan Awam)
One Stop Centre (Pusat Sehenti)
Smart City (Bandar Pintar)
Branch
Commissioner of Building (Pesuruhjaya Bangunan)
Administration areas (zones)
As of 2025, Johor Bahru is divided into 24 zones represented by 24 councillors to act as mediators between residents and the city council.[22][23][24] The councillors for the 1 April 2024 to 31 December 2025 session are as below:
↑ Carol Murugiah, JB–the tropical garden city: Renowned as shopper's haven with new malls, pg 4, 8 April 2001, New Sunday TimesSpecial (Sultan of Johor's Birthday)
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