KUCHING: Angkatan Zaman Mansang (Azam) has been asked to use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to explain the government’s development plans to the people.
DATUK AMAR MOHD MORSHIDI ABDUL GHANI
Azam chairman State Secretary Datuk Amar Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani said this was necessary because the people’s expectations had changed.
He said Azam needed to explore new ways to communicate online as well as to go to the ground more often to explain development such as Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) more effectively.
“SCORE is a big challenge. It is progressing very well, and attracted more than 20 big investors, with 70 to 80 per cent signed agreements with the government. In fact if you go to Samalaju now, you won’t believe the place has changed from ‘green fields’ to developed area now.
“This means there are opportunities for small businesses such as laundries, landscaping work and machine repairs … This is what Azam needs to be doing in communicating development to the people,” said Morshidi during an appreciation dinner for former Azam deputy chairman Datu Abdul Ghafur Shariff on Friday night.
Morshidi said Azam — the brainchild of Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud — was set up 27 years ago to communicate development plans to the people of Sarawak.
He noted that Azam had grown in stature after an initially small set up, and hoped it would improve its efficiency and remain relevant.
Meanwhile, Ghafur, who has been appointed Public Service Commission chairman, said he would continue contributing to Azam as an ordinary member.
He added that the time is right for Azam to ‘graduate’ from being a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to a civil society organisation (CSO), which plays a major role in the development of Sarawak.