KOTA KINABALU, Aug 21 — Local leaders in Sabah and Sarawak should provide feedback and proposals on how to smoothen the transition of decentralised power from Putrajaya, federal minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said today.
He said local leaders needed to speak up on the forms of empowerment promised them because the two Borneo states have different priorities and issues compared to Malaysians in the peninsula, but added that he had yet to get feedback.
“Policies are made at the federal level with the whole of Malaysia in mind, but the issues we face here and our priorities are different so the local leaders need to weigh in on the process,” Salleh, appointed as communication and multimedia minister just last month, said in a speech at the ministry’s complex here.
Salleh also said that Sabah and Sarawak were much bigger in size and had many races that had different needs and approaches.
“As a Sabahan, I understand the problems here and when I was appointed minister I wanted to get state information exco Datuk Sapawi Ahmad involved in the decision process,” he said, referring to his meeting with his state officers last Friday.
“I have yet to receive any feedback from anyone though. I’ve been told they will be having a meeting when he returns from his haj pilgrimage in October,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had recently announced his intention to give Sabah and Sarawak the autonomy they have been asking for.
He said that details of the transition were being ironed by chief secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa with the state secretaries of the two Borneo states.
The process aims to cut out duplication of responsibilities that slows down the administrative process.
Political leaders and academics in Sabah have long been calling for more autonomy in governing the two east Malaysian states especially over immigration, granting of citizenship, implementation of development projects as well as communication.
Salleh also said that he will be announcing a new approach and mechanism for his ministry to disseminate news to the people.
“This new approach is to keep in line with the current times, and takes into consideration the different of the people in urban and rural areas.We want to make sure we pass on the government’s messages clearly so people do not get confused by the amount of false information that is out there, especially in social media,” he said.
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