Deputy Premier: Fortifying core values at all levels vital for S’wak’s long

Dr Sim looks through a book launched in conjunction with the inauguration of the programme. From left are Nor Yahati and Juanda.

KUCHING (Aug 14): It is imperative Sarawak fortifies the fundamentals of governance, integrity, and anti-corruption to form a cornerstone that will secure the continuous and unwavering progress of the state’s pursuit of long-term prosperity, said Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian.

The Deputy Premier said these three pillars are the core values that must be applied at every level of society from the grassroots to leaders.

The Public Health, Housing and Local Government Minister pointed out that under local authorities for instance, various programmes have been carried out to cultivate and strengthen a culture of integrity.

He said one such programme was the Community Integrity Building (CIB) Programme where Sarawak stood as the pioneer among other states for the programme, which involved all 26 local authorities for the implementation of the CIB Training of Trainer (TOT) workshop.

“CIB heralds a new era of accountable and transparent governance. Developed by Integrity Action and embraced by nations across the globe, the programme presents a holistic approach to nurturing integrity and eradicating corruption through active community engagement.

“We are merging a complaint monitoring mechanism (fix rate) with surveys gauging the opinions of both service providers and recipients, effectively enhancing the integrity of our communities,” Dr Sim said at the inauguration of TOT for CIB Programme here today.

CIB is a social accountability approach that helps to identify and implement appropriate, viable solutions to improve the integrity level of the community of client surroundings, in the aspect of delivery of infrastructure and public services, especially in the jurisdictions of local authorities.

Dr Sim said the CIB pilot programme was implemented from July until November last year involving Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) and Sibu Municipal Council (SMC), which represented urban areas; and Limbang District Council (MDL) and Matu and Daro District Council (MDMD), which represented rural areas in Sarawak.

Focusing on essential maintenance projects such as grass cutting, drainage, road maintenance, and waste collection within residential areas, he said the pilot programme yielded results that exceeded expectations.

“The primary result of the pilot initiative indicated that most of the complaints received were successfully addressed based on the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) established by the local governing bodies.

“This is evident from the impressive 98.61 per cent overall fix-rate achieved in the CIB pilot programme in Sarawak, with a perfect 100 per cent fix-rate in Matu and DBKU, MDL, and a commendable 96.97 per cent fix-rate in MPS (SMC),” he said.

He added that the pilot initiative not only yielded positive feedback but positively impacted the local community as well, markedly enhancing municipal service efficiency and fostering a more comprehensive and community- driven monitoring system.

On the TOT programme, he said the workshop will serve as a transformative opportunity to empower the state’s local authority officers with specialised knowledge thus enabling them to be torchbearers of integrity and progress.

“The primary aim of the TOT workshop is to furnish these dedicated officers with the skills and expertise needed to effectively guide and nurture others in the forthcoming stages of the CIB programme.

“By investing in our officers’ capabilities, we not only strengthen the core of this initiative but also lay the groundwork for a lasting impact on our community.

“With a network of capable trainers, this ensures the perpetuation of integrity and accountability principles, thus safeguarding the sustainability of our progress,” said Dr Sim.

Among those present were Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Integrity and Ombudsman) Datuk Dr Juanda Jaya and Malaysian Institute of Integrity chief executive officer Datuk Nor Yahati Awang.