Kota Kinabalu: The appointment of 114 contract technical officers for all districts in Sabah will speed up the implementation of infrastructure projects at the district level, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs, and Special Duties) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
He said each Sabah district would be assigned three officers, namely a Grade J41 Engineer, Grade JA29 Assistant Engineer and Grade JA29 Assistant Material Surveyor.
He added that the Federal Government had allocated a total of RM10.9 million for the implementation of the pilot programme.
“The placement process to the district offices will be jointly coordinated between the Sabah State Rural Development Ministry and the Sabah State Development Office (ICU JPM Sabah),” he said.
He said the appointments follow the resolution of the People’s Development and Welfare Convention 2023 organised by the JPM ICU on June 16-17 in Merbok, Kedah, which, among other things, stated the need to strengthen the technical unit of the district office to improve the effectiveness of the delivery system for the implementation of small federal projects at the district level.
“This pilot programme will be implemented through a three-year contract appointment that will provide opportunities and work experience for local youths who are qualified in the technical fields of civil, electrical and material surveying,” he added.
Armizan said the appointments are expected to strengthen the function and role of the District Office in the implementation of federal development projects at the grassroots level.
“It is also a commitment by the Prime Minister and the Federal Government to empower the functions and roles of district offices throughout the country, especially the technical units,” he told this after presenting 55 letters of appointment for technical officers at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC), here, Monday.
The 55 appointment letters were under the first and second batches, while the appointment of the remaining ones, under the third batch, would be also carried out soon.
Armizan said all the technical officers, including the 55 appointed, would be aged below 40.
To a question, he said the appointments were not related to the upcoming handover of power supply through Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd from the federal to the State Government.
“It is also different from the projects below RM50 million that will be implemented by State agencies, namely the Public Work Department (JKR) and the Drainage and Irrigation Department (JPS).”
However, he said, it would be up to the State Government to apply and to have a joint consultation with the Federal Government if there is a need for staffing perhaps on implementation of the projects below RM50 million.
Also present were ICU-JPM Deputy Director-General Raja Muhammad Azhan Shah Raja Muhammad, State Public Service Director-General Datuk Zainuddin Aman, Federal Secretary to Sabah Datuk Makhzan Mahyuddin, Sabah Development Office Director Samsul Dollah and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Sabah Director Datuk Karunanithy A/L Y. Subbiah.
