Sarawak forms cabinet committee to seek more autonomy

KUCHING: A Cabinet committee led by Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg has been set up to seek more autonomy for Sarawak.
The Performance and Service Delivery Transformation (PSDT) Cabinet Committee will also seek to improve performance and effectiveness of programmes and service delivery.
Abang Johari said the PSDT secretariat would be headed by Sarawak Deputy State Secretary Dr Sabariah Putit, the first woman to be appointed a Sarawak deputy state secretary.
He said the list of PSDT Key Result Areas (KRA) and scope were to seek devolution of power and empowerment, service delivery and scorecard, state public relations strategy, quality of education and human capital, societal well-being and Sarawak as a sports powerhouse.
Abang Johari himself heads the PSDT KRA on the devolution of power and empowerment while the service delivery and scorecard aspect is headed by Sarawak State Secretary Tan Sri Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani.
Rosey Yunus and Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil take charge of the state public relations strategy; Datuk Fatimah Abdullah and Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, quality of education and human capital; Datuk John Sikie Tayai and Syarifdah Hasisah Sayeed Aman Ghazali, societal well-being, and Datuk Michael Manyin Jawong and Datuk Lee Khim Shin, Sarawak as a sports powerhouse.
"The objectives and role of the Cabinet committee are to identify respective Key Result Areas and recommend improvements, solutions and interventions that can bring immediate, medium-term and long-term growth, development, progress and harmony to the state," Abang Johari told a press conference after chairing the PSDT committee meeting here today.
He said that to meet the need for Sarawak to achieve higher economic growth and address the areas of autonomy and service delivery, the state had created three Cabinet committees, each headed by a deputy chief minister, to look after each transformation plan.
The Socio-Economic Transformation Cabinet Committee is spearheaded by Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas; Rural Transformation by Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing and Performance and Service Delivery Transformation by Abang Johari.
Abang Johari said the committee would meet at least once a month on a "lab retreat" basis to get briefings from each of the working committees (secretariat) on existing data, projects and programmes, including problems and issues, and identify KRA and recommend intervention action plans and solutions.
He said the committees also functioned to identify new niche areas for progress and development, if any or if relevant, and invite others to contribute or give briefings, and the working committees shall act as the secretariat to the Cabinet committees and provide support to the "lab retreat" of the Cabinet committees.
Besides, he said, the working committee would provide information and data on current policies, programmes and issues related to areas under each Cabinet committee.
"The working committees will be headed by deputy state secretaries and supported by the highest level officers and heads of department to ensure the transformation achieves its objective and the information and data provided are accurate," said Abang Johari. — Bernama