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Kota Kinabalu: Project monitoring is the biggest constraint that the State Local Government and Housing Ministry is facing as there are not enough technical personnel. 

Its Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam said contrary to the perception that the civil service is bloated, his Ministry is actually experiencing a shortage of relevant technical manpower. 

“Currently, the Ministry’s technical manpower consists of 22 positions. This technical manpower is placed in eight divisions within the Ministry, encompassing engineering, landscape, assessment officers, information technology and environmental health officers,” he said, in response to a Daily Express evaluation of the performance of the various ministries with the last budget year coming to a close. 

He said his Ministry is preparing a draft paper requesting more technical staff to overcome the obstacles. The Ministry has so far spent 85 per cent of the RM147.4 million allocated for projects approved by the State Finance Ministry in 2022. 

The allocation that could not be spent was attributed to land issues besides the technical personnel shortage.