Over half a million residents benefit from UTC in T'ganu

KUALA TERENGGANU: It has only been a year since the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) in Paya Bunga Square here began operations, but it has benefited more than half a million people in Terengganu, allowing them to settle government related affairs more efficiently in a shorter period of time.
UTC Terengganu manager Rozmi Muji said the facility, which was launched in June last year, has 29 federal government agencies, 20 statutory and state government bodies and two private agencies under one roof, had been visited by 623,319 people as of July this year.
Among the government agencies in the four-storey, 81,493sq ft building are the Road Transport Department, the Immigration Department, the 1Malaysia Clinic, the Companies Commission of Malaysia, the National Registration Department, the Hijrah Consultant, Tabung Haji and departments under the state government.
"Looking at the response from the people who visited UTC, it proves that the federal government's efforts and initiative to provide various key services under one roof is very successful.
"People can get things done more quickly, efficiently and comfortably. For those who are not able to come to the UTC during working hours, they can now do so at non-working hours, as services at the UTC operate from 10am to 10pm daily, except on public holidays and Fridays," he told Bernama here today.
Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah during his recent visit to the UTC said that it was now no longer seen as a "jaguh kampung" (local hero), but was also gaining the attention of the international community.
He said UTC's success story would be used by the World Bank to improve quality and efficiency in servicing the public, especially in developing countries.
Mohd Irwan also received a special invitation from Lesotho to give a briefing on the implementation of the UTC concept inspired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, so that it could be emulated there.
"UTC has become a pride of Malaysia, as many countries want to follow our footsteps, but the World Bank also wants to study how it can be implemented in developing countries.
"Malaysia is the pioneer in its initiative to house various government and private agencies under one roof, through strategic partnerships," he said.
A kindergarten teacher, Rosalinda Md Said, 30, said availing the services of public agencies at the UTC was very convenient, efficient and time-saving, plus the staff were courteous and customer-friendly.
"This is in stark contrast to three years before, when we often complained that the process of renewing passports, driving licences or identification cards took quite some time. The shortest would be two working weeks.
"But now that we have the UTC, I can renew all the documents within one day, and can do so after working hours and the weekend.
"So it's no surprise that good service like this receives praise not only from the locals, but also at the international level," she said. — Bernama