Minister angry with irresponsible officers
KOTA KINABALU: State Health Exco Datuk James Ratib is disappointed with the irresponsible behaviour of some government officers in giving the best service to the rakyat in Sabah.
“These irresponsible officers are delaying the implementation of infrastructure that is much needed by the rakyat. There are even cases where the heads of department or directors did not reply to letters for months.
“This behaviour is unacceptable as they must carry out their responsibilities as it is for the rakyat in Sabah. To the directors and department heads who are not shouldering their responsibilities, take this as a wake-up call … buck up or face the consequences,” he said.
James when speaking at a press conference on Monday, was visibly upset with the behaviour of some of the state government officers which he claimed was a contributing factor to Sabah being left behind in development.
“Do not be a director if you cannot carry out your responsibility and do not know the issues that are happening in your department. They must check on their staff to ensure that they are carrying out their duties.
“I also urge Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor to take deterrent action against these directors and officers. To the officers in all departments under my ministry, act immediately on what I said today because I will not hesitate to take action against those who failed in their duties,” the Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister said.
“I am warning the directors, resolve the problems, if you cannot do it, then vacate your post, give it to someone who can do it. There is no point for you to be at the post if you cannot perform,” he said and suggested that these irresponsible officers be demoted or transferred to another department.
James also lamented about the land issue that has hampered the reconstruction of health clinics in Sabah.
Citing the Tangkarason Clinic in Beluran which was destroyed by fire last Wednesday, James said the state government wants to construct a new clinic but the construction plan cannot proceed as the land has yet to be applied for by the Health Ministry.
The reply from the Beluran Land and Survey Department was that the Federal Land Commission has not applied for the land, he said adding, “This is such a sad thing as the health clinic was constructed more than 30 years ago but the Commission had not applied for the land.
“So I want to know what is the role of the Federal Land Commission in Sabah. Are they sleeping on the job and just ‘makan gaji’? This is only the Tangkarason Clinic because the Mansiat Clinic in Sook is also having the same problem.
“The land application was done in 1979 and only after a meeting with the Land and Survey Department recently was the land offer issued. When we cannot construct the health facilities, the federal allocation will be taken back and we will have to reapply for the financial aid which may not be approved,” he stressed.
He added that this problem with the land issue is not only faced by the Health Ministry but also the Education Ministry and other land for federal buildings and urged the Federal Land Commission to issue the gazette for the land.
“If they do not want to work, hand over the responsibility to those who want to work, don’t burden the rakyat and the government. I am angry and frustrated (with these irresponsible officers) because there are several more clinics such as in Langkon and Tenom that cannot be constructed because of similar land issues,” James said.
He also said that the Health Ministry has allocated RM2 billion for 23 projects in Sabah which were supposed to be implemented from 2009 to 2023.
But because of issues which included water and electricity supply, technical matters with the Public Work Department (PWD) and local authorities resulted in the revocation of the allocation for one of the projects, namely the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan, he said.
“If we can address these problems, some of which are minor, all will be good as there is more than RM2 billion in projects in Sabah from 2009 to 2024, that are unable to be implemented,” James said.
He also pointed out that the lack of collaboration between the state and federal departments had also caused the delay in the implementation of development projects in Sabah.
These irresponsible officers are delaying the implementation of infrastructure that is much needed by the rakyat. There are even cases where the heads of department or directors did not reply to letters for months.
Datuk James Ratib
“I noticed that there is no such collaboration between the state and federal officers.
“I find myself playing the role of communicator between them.
“The coordinating officers in Sabah of federal projects must ensure that they are implemented as soon as the government announcement is made.
“We must work together to ensure that the projects can be implemented quickly.
“What is the point of asking for huge federal allocations when there is no cooperation between the state and federal civil service,” he said.
According to James further, he has met with the officers of the Federal Land Commission to discuss the issues with the land applications for the health clinics and was informed that the applications are in process.
“The officers claim that their problem was meeting with the district Land and Survey Department officer and they must also take a number and queue up.
“This shows that there is no collaboration between the state and federal because I believe that the Land and Survey Department officer must give priority to their counterparts from other departments.
“I have informed the Land and Survey Department director to give priority to federal projects and also to reduce bureaucracy between departments,” he said.
James added that he sympathises with the Chief Minister who is doing his best for the welfare of Sabahans.
“I am feeling what he is feeling. If I just play safe and not voice all this out, then what is the point of me being a minister?” stressed James.
Another issue that James is concerned about is the fact that there are more than 50 health clinics in Sabah that are built from wood.
“There are more than 50 in Sabah but these buildings no longer exist in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.
“This is so embarrassing,” he said adding that the state Health Department has upgraded 25 of these clinics and there are plans to upgrade more.
“I want to ensure that we will be able to upgrade all of the existing wooden health clinics in the next two years and there are zero health clinics that are built from wood,” said the Sugut assemblyman.