MIRI: All officers and personnel of the state Public Work Department must make PWD as the most efficient and competent department in the country, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
Uggah who is also the Minister for Infrastructure and Port Development threw a challenge to all PWD officers to do so for their department.
“Let this be our vision to be the best from now,” he said in his keynote address at a “Randau Pemansang” ( Development Discussion) with all divisional engineers and senior officers of the department from throughout the state here on Wednesday.
He said to achieve this, he needed feedbacks from them in the effort to overcome especially the bureaucratic issues they faced.
“Once we identify them, we can seek the solutions. The department has after all gone through many trials and tribulations,” he added.
Uggah said he and his two deputy ministers Datuk Majang Renggie (Port Development) and Aidel Lariwoo (Infrastructure Development) were absolutely happy with the excellent co-operation that were given them.
“This has made our duties very pleasant and allow us to function effectively,” Uggah said.
He stressed on the need for the department to deliver all development projects under its supervision on time.
“The people’s expectation is always very high on this matter. Please inform us of any problems and obstructions standing in your way during the implementation.
“The people expect us to deliver or to rectify problems they face as soon as possible.
“If we are not forthcoming in the efforts, they will take to the social media to vent their anger at us albeit in ignorance of the actual situation or process,” he said.
He noted that both the state PWD and the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) had been recognised as technical departments under Treasury Directive 182 (AP 182) by the federal government that has allowed them to enjoy the autonomy in federal projects implementation.
“Sarawak has been fighting hard for the PWD, DID and Sarawak Rural Water Supply Department (JBALB) to be recognised as such under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) talks.
“Our Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg too is very confident the PWD and DID can deliver. Do not let him down. The bottom line is we must deliver on schedule.
“We are in the process of implementing more and more projects and particularly now that we are allowed to implement federal projects costing RM50 million and below.
“So obviously we cannot afford to be slacking. If we can successfully handle this, we can apply for an increase in future allocations,” he said.
