Be bold, govt officers told

NST 2009/12/02

By Jaswinder Kaur

KOTA KINABALU: Government officers given the task of making decisions must not allow politicians to intimidate them, state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said yesterday.

Instead, he added, they should focus on carrying out their duties based on regulations and the law.

Masidi said if civil servants did not let politicians interfere, they would be able to make the right decision, especially when deliberating on development at sensitive areas, such as hillslopes and the sea.

"Politicians will always sign letters seeking support by saying sila bantu (please assist) but government officers must not take this as an approval.

"Use your wisdom and follow the law. I was once a civil servant myself, and was placed in cold storage for going against a politician.

"I was brave enough to go against the directive because I knew I was right."

Masidi said this at a seminar on highlands development for state and Federal department heads at the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) campus in Sepanggar, here yesterday.

He said the popular decision might not always be correct, but that the right decision would always be right.

"I bring this up in the context of this seminar because we are talking about highlands and development on slopes. There is always a dilemma in this, with politicians coming into the picture.

"We do not need to destroy the environment to achieve development or to succeed in life. Look at alternatives that will not harm nature, or else we will face bigger problems in future.

"Later, speaking to reporters, Masidi said unregulated hillslope development in Kundasang, which is a popular tourism spot, was a thing of the past now that the area was finally under the Ranau district council's rating zone.

He said the district council had been instructed to meet operators to find ways to improve safety standards of lodges and other structures already there.

"The buildings exist, so this is what the council has to do. We cannot afford an accident that may lead to loss of lives, and the tourism industry to fall."

PAGE: This is the stand all politicians should take for all their ministries, in particular, the Education Ministry, where it involves many defenceless children and parents who would rather not say or do anything for fear that their children/school will be victimised. The Ministry of Education is not vindicative.

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