Sabah to restructure state departments, agencies and GLCs

The Sabah government will implement administrative restructuring in government departments and agencies, including GLCs, to enhance effectiveness of the public delivery system.

Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal said the restructuring was necessary to reduce wastage and leakage of government funds and resources, as well as fulfilling the aspirations of Sabahans who elected the new government in the last general election.

“We will see, if there is an overlap and a need to trim an agency, we will do so. For example several GLCs have too many subsidiaries, we will merge. What matters to us is coordination in terms of services,” he said.   

Shafie, who is also state finance minister, said this after attending a meeting with about 1,000 senior officers and heads of state and federal departments at the Sabah administrative centre in Kota Kinabalu today.

However, he said the restructuring and changes that needed to be undertaken under the new government led by Parti Warisan Sabah could take some time to work.

Security matters

From the aspect of security, he said Sabah needed the assistance of the federal government, but the placement of security assets had to be coordinated as best as possible.

On his earlier proposal to relocate existing military camps to the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone), Shafie said it was still at the proposal stage and needed to be discussed with the relevant ministries as it required the consent of the federal government.

He said the security aspect on the east coast areas of Sabah needed to be given serious attention as these were important tourism destinations in the state and among the main income earners of the economy.

Earlier in his speech, he wanted all state and federal civil servants to give total commitment to ensure the success of new government policies being implemented to meet the people’s aspirations.

“Every civil servant should not only be aware but also understand all government policies to ensure the delivery system is in line with the needs of the people as a whole,” he added.

- Bernama