KOTA KINABALU: The Public Works Department (PWD) has sacked 15 of its staff in Sabah.
Its director, Datuk Amrullah Kamal, said nine of them had abused drug, five were absent from work and one was involved in corruption.
He disclosed this during the Public Works Department recognition ceremony which was officiated by Deputy Chief Minister cum Infrastructure Development Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan yesterday.
Amrullah said the department must work harder and be constantly creative and innovative in fulfilling the demands of growing responsibilities including various development projects in the state, that had been entrusted to it by the federal government.
He said of the 365 projects coordinated by Sabah PWD in the 11th Malaysia Plan, 69 percent were federal projects and the rest, state-sponsored projects.
Meanwhile, Pairin said the PWD needs additional manpower to achieve the government’s aspiration in providing infrastructure for the state.
He said apart from mega projects such as the Pan Borneo Highway, the department had also taken over public assets such as roads under the district council and drainage from the local authority.
“With the additional responsibility, I feel that it is very important to boost the capability and efficiency of the organisation.
“The additional manpower is very necessary in administration, expertise and technology support, but undeniably, discipline and diligence of the individuals are also determinants in the effectiveness of a department,” he said.
Pairin also said disciplined and hardworking workers are two important ingredients that ensure the effectiveness of a government department.
He said that at the right quantity, the two qualities have the capacity to raise the capabilities of any department.
“And I believe that departments will follow up with this need for the sake of improving the efficiency of the delivery system to the people,” he said.
He added that the capacity and efficiency of the organisation must be raised so that it can shoulder more responsibilities in its duties. He also said that the organisation needs more workers in its administration as well as specialists and technology support workers.
“Nevertheless, individual discipline and hard work must be maintained,” he said.
Pairin also stressed on the importance of integrity, citing that on November 6, the ministry had taken and signed a pledge to be corruption-free in order to address power abuse issues in the ministry.
“I applaud the Public Works Department (PWD) for being one of the earliest government agencies to answer the challenge made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) by signing the pledge to wage war against corruption on January 15, 2016,” he said.
He stressed the importance of such moves to ensure the allocations given were channeled correctly and benefited the people.