SIBU: The State Agriculture Department will come out with a new manual as guideline for the implementation of subsidies for rubber, oil palm and other crops.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said this during the department’s staff appreciation ceremony held at RH Hotel here on Sunday night.
“The report for the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) shows that our performance was at only 53 per cent. The main reason was delay due to the tender system,” said Uggah, who is also Minister of Modernization of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development.
“That’s why we come out with this new manual which is also meant to empower the people. It helps them to form project management committees,” he added.
According to Uggah, the project management committees will be responsible for selecting the right contractors as well as supervising the implementation of projects.
“With this new empowerment, we hope to create an enterprising community able to manage their own projects.
“Before we made this recommendation to the state cabinet, we had carried out a trial on four projects. For each case, it took only one month to select a contractor and people were well involved in managing their own farms.
“So we hope future subsidies will be properly distributed for the benefit of the people,” he said.
A total of 171 staff members of the State Agriculture Department received the Service Excellence Award (APC) for 2016.
At the same function, 83 retirees received also certificate of appreciation from the department.
