Abang Johari speaking during the event. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Feb 4): The state government is looking into setting up its own salary scheme to better reward the state’s civil servants, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
In saying this, he said the government is studying this as their current salary is deemed unsuitable.
“You are not tied up with the pension ordinance – your salary is not tied with them. We can have a scheme that is in line with our management methods. Definitely, people will say: ‘If your salary is peanuts, you get monkeys but if your salary is high, you get experts.’ So, we need to study this.
“I cannot promise this because I am still studying on this. Kitak doa ajak lah. Mun kita tolong orang, Tuhan akan tolong kita (You just pray for this. If we help people, then God will help us). As such, we in the government are thinking on how we can ‘divorce’ from the (existing) pension scheme so we can have our own scheme for our civil servants,” he said.
Abang Johari said this in a speech during a dinner held in conjunction with the Land and Survey Department Sarawak (Landas) Summit 2023 at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching here on Friday night.
(Front, from left) Len Talif, Awang Tengah, Abdullah, Abang Johari, Dr Sim and Sharbini cutting the cake to celebrate the 105th anniversary of the Land and Survey Department Sarawak. – Photo by Chimon Upon
Touching on the state’s record-high revenue of RM11.9 billion, Abang Johari said this was due to new streams of revenue coupled with the use of new technology and as such, he said the state government continues to study further on finding new revenue streams for the state such as carbon trading and methanol production.
He said to achieve the status of high-income state by 2030, Sarawak aims to increase its gross domestic product (GDP) to RM232 billion.
“However, this can only be realised when Sarawakians working abroad can return to the state and run its economy based on the latest technology they have learnt from overseas. I have this confidence because I can see Sarawakians who work abroad, and the technology they have, have returned home (to Sarawak).
“They come back because we can offer good salary, as well as technology and the knowledge they have gained from universities. Those in Sarawak Metro, they returned to Sarawak since they have experience working on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) in Kuala Lumpur. So do our engineers working abroad in methanol plants,” he said.
Meanwhile, Abang Johari approved a sum of RM5 million for Landas to set up a research chair in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), which focuses on climate change and green energy.
He also suggested the department should send in more of its officers to continue their research in the related fields, including the multi-layered data as implemented in Estonia where everything is placed on one platform.
“At the same time, the officers’ practical experience and field work will be incorporated into the Master’s programme, in which they will be awarded with a postgraduate qualification Master’s degree by UTM,” he added.
Among those present were Deputy Premiers Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian; Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development Datuk Len Talif Salleh; Land and Survey Sarawak director Datu Abdullah Julaihi; and Sarawak Energy chief executive officer Datu Sharbini Suhaili.
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