Jaul (second left) presents the Best Ministry Award to the Ministry of International Trade, Industry and Investment while Hamid (right) and others look on.
SIBU (June 17): Sarawak State Secretary Datuk Amar Jaul Samion said negotiations on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) would not be possible without proper record and archive.
Speaking at the presentation of Sarawak Civil Service Record Management Awards (Ministry level) at the State Library here today, he said the MA63 negotiation was based on the record and archives kept inside and outside the country.
“What if the record is not kept or missing? We would not have succeeded in doing what we wanted to do in achieving our objective in increasing our royalty, increasing our revenues, enhancing our rights, and restoring our eroding constitutional rights,” he said.
He also said that records and archives of the past were not only useful for this purpose, but they are part of Sarawak’s history.
“I read a few days ago that the Sabah government is doing the same thing. They are going to the United Kingdom to look for the records. This emphasises the importance of having proper records and professional management of the records,” he said.
Jaul thus said the Sarawak Civil Service Record Management Awards should be extended to all government agencies to encourage healthy competition and to practise good and proper record management.
He said today’s event received good response from all state ministries.
“I really hope that such awards would continue at the civil service agencies level,” he said.
He said the Sarawak Pustaka played a role to educate the people on the importance of record in the civil service and to pave a way towards effective record management.
“Good and proper records management is important to ensure the accountability and integrity of the civil servant,” he said.
He also urged civil servants to carry out their duties responsibly so that all records kept could be used as reference and proof.
Chairman of Sarawak Pustaka Management Board Tan Sri Datuk Amar Hamid Bugo was also present at the event.