UTCs a boon to the people, says PM
‘Centres give Malaysians convenient way to access government services’
SEREMBAN: A man travelling to India with his mother was surprised to learn that her passport had expired when they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
But he still had enough time to rush to the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) in Sentul to renew her passport and get back to KLIA in time to catch the flight.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who shared this story with the audience when opening the Negri Sembilan UTC in Ampangan near here, said such centres give Malaysians access to government services late in the day and even on weekends.
“I met several social media practitioners during my recent visit to Kota Kinabalu and when I asked them what was the single most effective move by the Government that made them happy, they told me it was the setting up of UTCs.
“And these were ordinary people, not necessarily government supporters,” he said.
Najib added that the services provided by UTCs nationwide are immensely popular with the rakyat as supported by the fact that the centres have served 54 million visitors as of October.
He said the UTC is unique to Malaysia and no other country provides such a service to its people.
“Whenever we decide to open a UTC, we make sure it is ready in the shortest possible time.
“We also ensure the cost of opening it is minimal,” he said, adding that such centres will only be opened where they will have a widespread impact.
He said the latest UTC cost RM 34.2mil to build and was completed within three months.
“If we built a new building, it would have cost at least RM150mil,” he said.
Najib said the Negri Sembilan UTC would also be the first to have special 1 Serve Counters that handle matters related to the Immigration, National Registration and Road Transport departments.
“The people will be able to use the same number at these counters and they can make any application related to the three departments,” he said.
The Negri Sembilan UTC, which has been operating since Nov 20, offers other government department and agency services, such as the National Higher Education Fund Corporation, Majlis Amanah Rakyat, Pilgrims Fund Board or Tabung Haji, Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan, TM Point as well as agencies such as Jobs Malaysia under the Human Resources Ministry.
There is also a gymnasium run by the Youth and Sports Ministry, a health clinic and a police beat base.
These departments and agencies operate from 8.30am to 9.30pm every day except on public holidays. Also present at the opening was Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
Najib was also applauded when he approved a request by Mohamad who had, in his speech, asked for a hall to be built for the people in Ampangan, as well as a pedestrian bridge over the busy Jalan Seremban-Kuala Pilah stretch to get to the Negri Sembilan UTC.