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Taib: Planning and implementation must strike chord of balance of all factors
By Toman Mamora
KUCHING – In view of the growing complexity of development, the process of planning and implementation must take cognizance of all relevant social and economic factors so that the impact of any given project can be addressed from the widest possible perspective, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Taib cautioned against indiscriminately expanding the capacity of the implementing machinery and hastening the pace of development without studying and understanding the full dimension of the process.
The
Chief Minister, who was delivering his winding-up speech at the State
Legislative Assembly yesterday, said: “ Several dimensions need to be studied
carefully before implementing any major project, and from time to time the
implementation has to be fine-tuned to avoid any ill-effects on the
environment.”
Among
others, he cited increased mobility of the population, which could give rise to
social and ecological problems, as a key consideration in development planning.
“
Our capacity to implement development projects must not be measured only in
terms of the volume of works but also in terms of their impact on society,” he
stressed.
Taib
had earlier noted that most backbenchers had suggested for an expansion of the
implementation machinery to cope with the expected increase in the number of
projects.
He
considered there was a need to restructure the implementing machinery,
especially at the lower level of the administration, and create specialised work
groups to enhance efficiency and meet the rising expectations of the people.
“Unlike
in the days of the White Rajah regime, when the creation of the five
administrative divisions was based on ‘the wave of conquest’ and when the
principal concern was the propagation of peace, the civil service today is
engaged in the administration and implementation of development,” said Taib,
adding that infrastructure had become necessary to facilitate administration and
economic development.
He
told the State Legislative Assembly that the desire and development perspective
of the people had changed over the years and they were becoming increasingly
concerned with issues such as education, urbanisation, environment, and
information communication technology.
Recognising
the new scenario was reflective of a change in the mindset of the populace. Taib
said efforts must be made by political leaders to get
the people to be more involved via key roles in the implementation of
development programme.
“
As participation of the people in development is going to be more complex, it is
important for them to understand the requirements of the process and that change
is part of development,” said Taib, who feared the absence of understanding
could give rise to friction between the authorities and people and provide
fodder for unscrupulous quarters to exploit.
He
stressed: “ If the people want development, they have to accept the tools of
development and bring change to their territory.”
The
civil servants, he added, must complement the efforts of the political masters
of the day by providing resourceful explanation to the people on issues relating
to development in order to bridge the communication disparity.
He
said even with the provision of sufficient number of officers in the civil
service, the challenge of keeping up with the pace of change could not be met
easily.
“
We must train the government servants to look at issues sympathetically, and we
have embarked on this by holding seminars to imbue them with a better outlook of
development and its implications to society,” he said, adding that the process
must be done by the Government which had a better understanding of the actual
situation and not academic bodies.
With
the advent of IT, work processes in the civil service must be split up and new
formula to monitor development projects devised to meet the growing public
demand for efficiency and speed.
Although
the State had made tremendous progress in its efforts to set up of an
e-government, the major task ahead was to make the people computer-literate,
said Taib, stressing that those with computer literacy would be able to deal
with the Government more expeditiously via the IT network.
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