KOTA KINABALU: Community development leaders must assist the government in explaining its achievements to the people in their respective areas, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
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 them.
According to him, the failure to comprehensively disseminate government achievements has also caused issues highlighted on social media, such as water and electricity supply as well as damaged roads, to appear more prominently, even though efforts are being made to address these problems.
"You can be regarded as the eyes and ears of the government," he said after a swearing-in ceremony for 45 new community development leaders at Menara Kinabalu here on Tuesday (Jan 13).
"Your main task is to help explain government policies, programmes and successes to the people.
"So, help spread the word, 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 RM4bil to RM7bil, and our reserves have also risen to more than RM8.6bil.
"This must be disseminated so that the people know what the government has accomplished."
Similarly, Hajiji said, explanations about investments brought into the state by the government must be made to the people.
"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 RM31bil there, with 6,000 to 7,000 job opportunities expected to be created," he said.
He added that if the GRS government were considered a failure, Sogip and other industrial parks in Sabah might still be empty today.
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 reinforce the agenda for the economy, infrastructure and people’s well-being 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, well-being, and improvements to basic infrastructure such as water supply and road networks through strategic planning under the SMJ 2.0.
He stressed that issues related to the construction and maintenance of infrastructure under the Federal Government will continue to be raised with Putrajaya in the interest of the people of Sabah.
