KUCHING: The Sarawak civil service has adopted the Sistem Saraan Perkhidmatan Awam (SSPA) in alignment with the federal government civil service reforms.
Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari said the adoption will incur an amount of RM67 million in the 2025 State Budget.
He also said the state government will provide a special allowance for the civil service employees, with an annual financial impact of RM102 million next year.
He said this is in recognition of their contribution and dedication to SCS.
"In line with this, we will introduce an enhanced Management Performance System for SCS towards creating a result-driven and world-class civil service.
"Therefore, I urge all our civil servants to continue with their dedication and relentless efforts in improving their productivity and delivering effective services to the people," he said in his 2025 State Budget speech.
He said the capability of SCS is fundamentally connected to fostering a high-performance culture, which ensures that our SCS is knowledgeable, highly effective, adaptable and innovative.
"Therefore, under this budget, RM18.5 million will be allocated for civil service training and development initiatives."
He said these include competency-based training for support staff to boost their skills and executive leadership programmes for top management to cultivate strategic thinking and leadership skills essential for navigating complex challenges.
He said there are also programmes to develop future leaders through targeted training, ensuring a strong leadership pipeline, and upskilling and reskilling programmes to ensure the workforce can adapt and thrive in an evolving working environment.
The premier said the state government is also committed to addressing the shortage of government housing for civil servants.
He added that the state government will construct new housing and facilities for Sarawak civil servants, with an RM3.55 billion scheme.
He said construction is expected to commence in 2025 with an initial allocation of RM200 million.
He said the state government remains committed to implementing initiatives that enhance and embed integrity within SCS by implementing several measures.
He said the measures include empowering certified integrity officers across various agencies, ensuring they are equipped with the necessary tools, support and framework to perform their responsibilities effectively.
He said the measures also include maintaining an oversight and coordination of the essential functions performed by the Integrity Units in different agencies and establishing the Sarawak Ombudsman which plays a crucial role in addressing issues of maladministration within public service agencies.
He said it investigates complaints and advocates accountability, transparency and fairness, ensuring that public officials uphold the highest ethical standards.
He said SCS will continue to improve the service delivery system by streamlining processes, fostering inter-agency collaboration, reducing bureaucracy, implementing regulatory experiments, leveraging behavioural insights, enhancing service delivery and ultimately improving ease of doing business.
"For this purpose, a sum of RM21 million will be allocated to develop and enhance government ICT projects across key sectors, while RM107 million will be provided for the maintenance of the systems in 2025," he said