CM's call to govt agencies
Published on: Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman urged State and Federal government agencies to translate their star rating to a high quality delivery system for the people."The achievement must not merely be celebrated and placed inside the frame for record or to be reported in meetings but government agencies, especially those in the front line, must live up to the high performance culture," he said."This will enable the positive impact (of having such a high star rating) can be really felt by the people," he said in his address at the annual State and Federal civil service assembly at the Tun Raffae Auditorium in Menara Tun Mustapha here, Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT Musa, who is also Finance Minister, also advised all state and federal administrations in Sabah to practise prudence in expenditure when carrying out their respective responsibilities. He said public administration machinery should avoid all forms of wastage in managing resources and finance and not be complacent and careless in their fundamental responsibilities to the people and Government. The practice of prudent expenditure was relevant when the world, including Malaysia, was facing various economic issues such as falling oil prices and other commodities that could be felt by the people and country, he said."We all know 2015 is more challenging compared to previous years with various economic issues such as falling oil prices. We are grateful to God as the Government, especially Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, had announced several measures to face the current situation. ADVERTISEMENT "We are grateful that the development expenditure for infrastructure projects in Budget 2015 was retained, including the allocation for Sabah," he said. Hence, Musa called for all projects in Sabah to be completed according to schedule as delays might cause the cost of projects to escalate and the additional cost would be a waste of public funds.
ADVERTISEMENT
He also wants civil servants to practise excellence in performance by emphasising on innovation and creativity to produce value-added services and products.The rich resources of Sabah, including its biodiversity, could be exploited for research and development in collaboration with various agencies like institutions of higher learning. On racial unity and harmony in Sabah, Musa wants the people to continue safeguarding the peace and stability in Sabah to ensure a steady flow of investment into the State. He said the people should not allow certain parties to destroy the unity forged by the people of various races and beliefs in Sabah by preventing negative elements from coming into the State."We will take action according to regulations and laws as well as power provided to the State Government in order to protect the interest of the majority of peace-loving and harmonious Sabahans," he said.On another note, Musa also suggested that departments and agencies involved directly with rural development formulate a communication plan in collaboration with the District Office and respective elected people's representatives to counter issues raised in the social media."Don't wait until the issue goes viral resulting in a negative impact on the Government. We need to come forward quickly to clarify so that the people will get the true picture," he said."The monitoring and coordinating mechanism is already there, only that it is not going on smoothly and effectively resulting in perceptions that the issue is major, which in the end affects the Government's and public service image."These weaknesses must be addressed soon," he said.Musa also urged members of the public service to emphasise on integrity since it reflected the Government's image and credibility in the eyes of the people.He said it is a serious matter when integrity issues cropped up including in enforcement of laws such as those reported in the newspapers recently (involving certain immigration officers).Towards this end, Musa said it was imperative there is strong cooperation between members of the public service and State administrative.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
"In order to fight for the people we (State administrative) or government leaders cannot do it alone. We are in a smart partnership with members of the public service towards achieving the Government's Halatuju and transformation successfully," he said. Also present were Deputy Chief Ministers Tan Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin, State Secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman and Sabah Federal Secretary Datuk Borhan Dollah.