Awang Tengah (seated fifth left) and the participants of Puscar 2019.
LIMBANG: Government officers must be pragmatic and pre-empt any problems by taking a proactive approach at every level.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said this at the Purnama Sports Carnival (Puscar) 2019 appreciation dinner here.
Landas emerged champion in the inter-department championship.
Advising them to stay clear of one-size-fits-all approach from planning to execution stage, he said an efficient delivery system expected of the civil service should be based on timely feedback for holistic planning and close monitoring instead of responding to problems highlighted in the press .
“Do not sit at the office desk and only react when it becomes a problem,” he reminded.
He added that teamwork, dedication to integrity and efficiency, and good ethics are values demanded of civil servants who are conversant of the vision and mission of their respective departments or agencies.
Awang Tengah, who is also Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources and Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, said the Sarawak government wants projects to be implemented in a transparent manner through open tender system and closely monitored by the authorities.
“These require good planning and execution by implementing agencies which must be nimble and wise to local peculiarities as a one size-fits-all approach could turn problematic later.
“What may be suitable in one place may not be applicable to another place and that is why planning is critical,” he said.
“The government is inclusive and wants all projects and services delivered accordingly to benefit our people as we want to determine our own destiny,” he added.
Awang Tengah informed that federal funds for Sarawak had been slashed and drastically reduced in many areas of interest to Sarawakians and the state government had stepped up to take over many of the projects and initiatives approved by the previous government.
“The RM30 million annual federal funds for NCR land perimeter survey since 2010 is no longer allocated by the PH government, so the state government decided to allocate RM40 million from her coffers to continue this programme,” he said, referring to one of the many actions taken by the state government to proceed with cancelled projects and programmes.
At the same time, Awang Tengah said the state government would proceed with the building of state complexes for Limbang and Lawas to provide better services to the people.
The deputy chief minister announced an allocation of RM50,000 to Limbang Resident’s Office to host more healthy activities which would benefit the civil servants in the division.
Also present at the function were Assistant Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, Lawas MP Datuk Henry Sum Agong, Limbang MP Hasbi Habibolah, Limbang Resident Ahmad Denny Fauzi and his deputy Sebi Abang, Limbang district officer Superior Awang Said and his Lawas counterpart Ladin Atok.