Don't Lepak.... Civil servant

Outgoing Sabah Federal Secretary Datuk Khazali Ahmad reminded civil servants to have high integrity so as to enhance the delivery system. He said high integrity is not only about avoiding graft and power abuse but also completing duty on time, arriving to work on time, teamwork, relations among staff and accountability.

"By not taking bribes and not getting involved in corruption, it does not mean our integrity has reached a high level if we not always in the office (when not on official or outside assignment) or when we are always late to work or not committed to our duty that causes our work to be delayed," he said. Some Govt staff have often been accused of playing truant (Lepak), thus affecting the delivery system.

Speaking at a dinner with the media cum farewell dinner cum launching of the Sabah Federal Secretary Office Integrity Plan 2012-2016, he said integrity is also closely associated with backlog cases and failure to lead the staff to have high discipline. All these are elements that are related to the level of integrity that does not only involve individual integrity but also the department's integrity.

With respect to the media, Khazali urged heads of Federal agencies in Sabah to always maintain firm relations with media practitioners. Such strong ties, he said, is an "engagement" to enable all forms of programmes and development projects to be made known to the target groups.

Through continuous engagement with the stakeholders and clients, he said, they would be able to obtain feedback from them on the implementation of a programme or policy. "This is where we need the media practitioners. Through their reports and the public's feedback, we can appraise and scrutinise the strength and weaknesses in the implementation of the nation's development agenda," he said.

He said the media is also the main medium on the part of the civil service to obtain direct feedback from the people. Apart from acting as a "publicity agent" to promote the Federal agencies in terms of development projects and programmes, he said, the media is also an avenue for the people to channel information.

"In this context, I would like to stress to the agencies' heads not to be too defensive or protective over reports by the media regarding our agencies," he said. Khazali said the media is a connecting bridge between the executive or policy implementers and the people. To this, he said they must be fair to the media and media practitioners. "They have a responsibility also to report news that is of public interest," he said. Therefore, should there be negative news reports about Federal agencies, he said, they should strive to improve their weaknesses and to engage with the media to correct the agency's weaknesses.

Thanking the media for its support, coverage and positive publicity on Federal agencies in Sabah, Khazali said media contribution in the government's development agenda is an important element in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).