By WU VUIDE
KENINGAU: The State Government has allocated nearly RM1 billion for the development of the agriculture, industry and tourism sectors to spur economic growth this year.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor wants every District Officer to identify the economic potential within their respective districts.
“Some districts have strengths in agriculture. Some have tourism potential. Others have marine resources, while some have potential in industry and trade.
“These strengths and opportunities must be identified and developed in a planned manner.
“Our task is to ensure that this potential can be translated into investment opportunities, jobs and increased income for the people,” he said at the opening of the 29th Sabah District Officers’ themed “Driving Innovation, Empowering Communities”, at a hotel yesterday.
Hajiji reiterated that the State Government has a development allocation ceiling of RM12.02 billion for 1,173 programmes and projects under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) this year, the highest in the history of the Sabah Budget.
“The allocation ceiling covers 241 continuation projects and 932 new projects. However, the larger the allocation provided, the greater our responsibility to ensure that its implementation is truly effective,” he said.
Therefore, he wants every District Officer to pay serious attention to implementing projects and programmes in their respective districts.
Monitoring must be carried out continuously. If there are problems, they must be identified early, and if there are delays, the causes must be identified and appropriate action taken, he added.
Hajiji assured that rural development will remain among the State Government’s priorities, particularly basic amenities such as roads, water and electricity supply.
“The same applies to housing, education, employment opportunities, entrepreneurship and community economic development. We want to continue narrowing the development gap between urban and rural areas,” he said.
He said the State Government would also continue to strengthen digitalisation in public service delivery.
He congratulated the Sabah Rural Development Ministry on developing the Online Rumah Mesra Sabah Maju Jaya Application, describing it as an important step towards making government service delivery faster, more transparent and people-friendly.
“I hope this application will continue to be enhanced, including through the use of artificial intelligence or AI. This technology can help the people obtain information more easily, while also simplifying the application and checking processes.”
Meanwhile, Hajiji wants District Officers and Assistant District Officers to be bold in adopting new approaches to deliver quality service to the people.
He said every action must be carried out in accordance with regulations, good governance and the interests of the people.
“We are facing changes that are taking place at a very rapid pace. Advances in technology, changes in the global economy, social changes and rising public expectations of government services require us to continuously improve the way we work,” he said.
In this context, he said District Offices are among the important institutions within the State Government machinery at the grassroots level to ensure that policies, programmes and projects are translated into action on the ground.
Hajiji said the success of Sabah Maju Jaya 2.0 depended on the entire government machinery’s ability to implement it, including District Officers and District Offices.
District Officers were also instructed to pay attention to the effectiveness of service delivery and not wait until a problem becomes serious.
Hajiji also reminded them that project delays must not be regarded as normal because every delay affects the people.
Hajiji with ministers, elected representatives and District Officers at the conference.
