KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor wants all parties, especially Community Development Leaders (PPM) to assist the government in explaining the government’s achievements to the people in their respective areas.
He said that many achievements recorded by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government under his leadership have not been widely publicised, resulting in the public being unaware of many actual developments.
According to him, the failure to comprehensively disseminate government achievements has also caused issues frequently highlighted on social media, such as water and electricity supply as well as damaged roads, to appear more prominent, even though efforts to address these problems are being implemented by the GRS government.
“You can be regarded as the eyes and ears of the government. Your main task is to help explain government policies, programmes and successes to the people. So, help spread the government’s achievements, as there are many successes we have achieved for the people.
“Through the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development blueprint, we have uplifted Sabah’s economy, restoring it after COVID-19, increased revenue from RM4 billion to RM7 billion, and our reserves have also risen to more than RM8.6 billion.
“This must be disseminated so that the people know the government’s achievements. The same goes for investments.
For example, at the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP), the area is already fully occupied, and most recently an investor from Singapore invested RM31 billion there, with 6,000 to 7,000 job opportunities expected to be created,” he said.
Hajiji said this at the Swearing In and signing of the “Aku Janji” Pledge Ceremony for the new Community Development Leaders (PPM) at Menara Kinabalu on Tuesday.
He added that if the GRS government were considered a failure, SOGIP and other industrial parks in Sabah might still be empty today due to the absence of investors.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said the State Government will strengthen the implementation of the SMJ 2.0 Development Roadmap, which is scheduled to be launched at the end of this month, to further reinforce the economic, infrastructure and people’s well-being agenda throughout the state.
He said the implementation of the SMJ Development Plan by the GRS Government since 2021 has successfully laid a strong development foundation and delivered benefits to the people across various sectors.
In addition to economic aspects, Hajiji said the Government would continue to focus on human capital development, the well-being of the people, and improvements to basic infrastructure such as water supply and road networks through strategic planning underthe SMJ 2.0.
He stressed that issues related to the construction and maintenance of infrastructure under the responsibility of the Federal Government will continue to be raised with the Federal Government in the interest of the people of Sabah.
Congratulating the newly sworn-in PPMs, he expressed hope that they would play an active role in assisting the Government to convey accurate information to the people and to effectively explain government programmes and policy achievements.
“I want all PPMs to carry out their duties with full integrity and commitment for the future of Sabah and the generations to come,” he said.
Hajiji emphasised that the position of PPM is a great trust that must be carried out responsibly as a bridge between the Government and the people on the ground.
A total of 45 Sabah State PPMs took their oath of office and signed their pledge letters. – pr/BNN
