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KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government has spent RM2.391 billion for development projects as of September 4 this year, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor announced today.
He said this equates to 45.67% of the RM5.235 billion allocated under the Second Rolling Plan of the 12th Malaysia Plan, which was set for 1,118 approved development projects in the state.
“It is hoped that Sabah will exceed the national (expenditure) performance of 55.44%,” he said when chairing the State Development Action Council meeting (MTPNg) at Kinabalu Tower near here today.
Hajiji, who is also state finance minister, requested for all ministries and agencies to note as well as take follow-up actions based on the detailed performance report tabled during the meeting.
“We want to ensure all the planned development projects are implemented as scheduled,” he said.
On the issue of housing for the poor, Hajiji called on the Rural Development Ministry to speed up the construction of Housing for the Hardcore Poor homes in the state and ensure smooth coordination between implementing agencies and local authorities.
“I want regular monitoring and I will ask for status updates,” he said, adding that all issues hampering its implementation should be ironed out.
He also reminded 76 of the 85 state statutory bodies and government-linked companies which have yet to set up their respective integrity and governance units to do so by December.
Only nine have so far complied with the directive aimed at ensuring integrity in the work culture, transparency in service delivery without abuse of power, and vested interest in accordance with existing laws and regulations, he said.
Hajiji also reminded all departments, district offices, local authorities, and state statutory bodies that have yet to formulate and implement their Organisational Anti-Corruption Plan that they have until December 2023 to do so.
“It is our shared responsibility to empower and inculcate integrity in the implementation of responsibilities in the government delivery system in order to achieve sustainable development goals,” he said.
The chief minister said he had launched Sabah Integrity Day on September 1, an initiative under the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya Development Plan during which the Revised Book on the Chief Minister’s Department Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023 was also launched.
The revision contains 20 updated initiatives in line with the direction and agenda of the government towards bolstering integrity, anti-corruption, and good governance, he said.
On another note, Hajiji disclosed that a total of 22,664 household heads in Sabah will benefit from the Malaysian Family Insurance Scheme (SKIM) introduced by the government as social protection for the poor and hardcore poor groups listed in the eKasih database under the Implementation and Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department.
Among the benefits of the shariah-compliant group takaful insurance plan are RM10,000 for natural deaths, RM25,000 for accidental deaths as well as RM10,000 for total permanent disability.
SKIM provides 12 months of protection beginning from the enforced date of the member’s certificate and is managed exclusively by PruBSN Takaful Bhd.
Hajiji also called on all quarters to work together as a team and utilise the MTPNg as a platform to share information for discussion and find solutions to issues affecting development projects in Sabah. – The Vibes, September 13, 2022
