KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun has observed that the state’s problem with maintaining public facilities lies with slow-moving local council personnel instead of a lack of funds.
Speaking to the State Legislative Assembly today, Masidi, (Karanaan-Bersatu) said he found it tough to deal with certain local authorities because there are personnel who are not sincere in doing their job.
He claimed that these officers are slowing down the services they are supposed to provide to the people, especially when it comes to the urgent repair of public facilities.
“The money issue does not arise. In fact, Sandakan (Sandakan Municipal Council) is one of the richest local authorities in Sabah and it has three deputy presidents. It is about how fast and efficient the management of a local authority is.
“This is why YB (assemblymen)…feel free to contact me personally (to report on public facilities’ problems). I will contact the local authority directly.
“It doesn’t matter if you are sitting on that side (opposition) or on this side we are here working for the same people,” he said in his reply to Datuk Frankie Poon’s (Tanjung Papat-DAP) query over the government’s action in maintaining and upgrading public facilities.
The state DAP chief also brought up the collapsed bridges in Kg Sim-Sim, Sandakan which were ignored by the city’s municipal council (SMC) and several other instances where the council had failed to act.
Masidi asked: “When you were the minister (Sabah Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister) it did not happen?” to which Poon responded yes but he solved it within a week.
Masidi then said: “That is the answer. Not everyone is like us, working for the people. We cannot sleep when a problem is not solved but there are people who can still sleep well.
“I am dealing with people (in local authorities) and it is tough because different people have different attitudes. I also cannot generalise because some local authorities have a mix of people who are efficient, and people who are slow to act,” he said.
The state minister also said there is no need to reform the local government when what really needs reformation is the people’s mentality.
“If people start thinking about doing their jobs like they are doing ‘ibadah’ (actions showing devotion) to God, then they will be more hardworking and sincere in delivering the results,” he said.
Commenting on the performance of SMC, Masidi asked for more time to solve the problems faced in the district.
“Sandakan is a challenging area. Give us time. I will ask my officers to focus on a few local authorities, especially Sandakan,” he said. – The Vibes, July 20, 2022
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