Special assistance shows Sabah cares about its civil servants, says CM’s aide

KOTA KINABALU: The Special Financial Assistance initiative rolled out by Sabah shows the government is appreciative of the hard work done by civil servants in the state.

Special officer to the Chief Minister Yee Tsai Yiew said state civil servants will be receiving their second payment of RM1,000 from the incentive programme as announced in the Sabah State Budget 2024.

She said all state civil servants including temporary and contract staff had received their first payment of RM1,000 in January, and will receive a total of RM2,000 incentive in line with the allocation implemented by the Federal government.

“This will be a welcome relief, especially for those preparing for the coming Hari Raya Aidilfitri, and shows the government’s appreciation of the civil servants’ contributions towards development of the state,” she said, in a statement here on Monday (March 25).

She expressed hope that in response to this incentive, civil servants will provide an efficient and good quality of state public services to the people.

Yiew also pointed out the government’s effort to improve the state civil service by allocating RM25.06mil from the state’s Budget 2024 towards the enhancement of knowledge, skills and expertise programmes.

“Having a good and competent civil service is essential to ensure the successful implementation of the government’s Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) initiatives.

“As such, this allocation can be seen as a form of investment by the government to not only improve their quality of service, but more importantly to expand their knowledge and skills, and ultimately for them to use it to ensure the successful delivery of the government’s vision of a modern and developed state,” she added.

On current developments during the month of Ramadan, she commended the noble efforts of collaboration programmes between state government agencies and the private sector such as the Majlis Berbuka Puasa between Kim Teck Cheong (KTC) and the Community Development Leader Units (UPPM) in 25 locations throughout Sabah.

Yiew also thanked the private sector as well as government-linked companies (GLCs) that have worked together with government agencies through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives that have made a positive impact on the local community.