Putrajaya working on empowering Sabah, Sarawak, says minister

By: Unknown on 22.8.15

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Published: 22 August 2015 7:42 AM

Putrajaya says it will fulfill the promise to give more powers to Sabah and Sarawak. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, August 22, 2015.Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said the ministry would implement a new approach and mechanism in channeling information on government policies and current issues to the people.

"I have taken the decision to make the changes because it is important for us to convey messages that the people could comprehend.

"As we know, sometimes people get confused by certain quarters using the social media purposely to mislead," he said in his address at a ministry event yesterday.

He said the state information exco would be given a bigger role in agencies under the ministry such as Information Department, Broadcasting Department, Jasa and Bernama.

Meanwhile, Salleh said the pledge made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, while launching the Merdeka Month and Jalur Gemilang Campaign in Sarawak, to give "empowerment" to Sabah and Sarawak, was not an empty promise.

"This empowerment is not merely an empty promise. We will fulfill it. We practise a federal government system. Among the keys to federal government is 'delegation of power', where the federal government can delegate authority to their agencies or the state government.

"Secondly, 'decentralisation', where decisions are not only done by Putrajaya but the states would also have the power to decide," he said.

Salleh said the chief secretary to the government and state secretaries were in the process of refining the aspects of empowerment to be accorded to the state governments. – Bernama, August 22, 2015.