Latest news with #Norali
The Star
6 days ago
- General
- The Star
Mobile community services bring much-needed government aid to Paitan, Sabah
James Ratib (right) speaking with government agency representatives at the MCS booth in Paitan. Norali (left) looks on. SANDAKAN: A rural outreach programme led by the Sabah Federal Treasury has proven to be a lifeline for remote communities in Paitan, one of the state's most remote and rural areas. Community Development and People's Wellbeing Minister Datuk James Ratib said the Mobile Community Services (MCS) programme allowed direct access to federal and state government services in places previously beyond reach. 'Many residents here still struggle to access basic public services. This programme helps bridge that gap,' he said after launching the programme at the Paitan district office on Sunday (May 25). Located in the northeastern part of Sabah, Paitan has an estimated population of around 29,100 residents. It was officially upgraded to a full district on August 1, 2024, becoming Sabah's 29th and youngest district, a move aimed at improving administrative efficiency and bringing government services closer to its remote communities. However, the district still lacks many basic government facilities, such as a dental clinic and other permanent public service offices. The MCS programme featured service counters by 36 federal and state agencies, including the Health Ministry and the Agriculture Department. 'These kinds of programmes must be held more frequently in my area. This is a vast and isolated part of Sabah. Programmes like MCS deliver services swiftly and directly to the people,' he said. James also noted the significance of MCS in identifying gaps in permanent agency presence in the district. 'Now that Paitan is a full district, this is a good start. I was pleased to hear that a District Education Officer will soon be stationed here permanently. I hope other departments will follow suit, so that agencies no longer operate here on a temporary basis,' he said. Paitan district officer Joe Joloning Majambu echoed this sentiment, describing the MCS event as 'historic' for the district. 'This is the first time MCS is being held in Paitan and it has clearly benefited not just local residents but also those coming from outlying areas and islands. I am truly grateful to the Sabah Federal Treasury, especially Tuan Awang Norali, for their commitment in bringing this programme to us,' he said. Federal Financial Officer Norali @ Ag Norali Ag Damit said the programme was among the key rural-focused initiatives funded under Budget 2025. 'Altogether, we will be reaching 12 locations in Sabah this year. The main goal is to serve interior communities facing accessibility issues in obtaining government services,' he said. Norali said the next MCS events will be held in Kota Marudu – at Kampung Gana on June 18 and Magandai on June 21 – followed by a programme at Pulau Jambongan in Paitan on June 29.
Borneo Post
30-04-2025
- Business
- Borneo Post
Sabah entrepreneurs urged to go for direct registration as vendors
Norali (right) granting the Ministry of Finance certificate to one of the business owners who managed to obtain approval during the Hari Bertemu Pembekal eP: Daftar & Lulus programme in Kota Kinabalu. KOTA KINABALU (April 30): Entrepreneurs and business owners in Sabah are urged to register as a vendor directly and obtain the Ministry of Finance (MoF) certificate. Through the Hari Bertemu Pembekal eP: Daftar & Lulus programme, all companies have the opportunity to secure immediate approval within the same day. However, approval is subject to the complete submission of required documents. On April 24, Hari Bertemu Pembekal was held at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Kota Kinabalu, and was attended by 122 companies. Sabah Federal Finance Officer, Tuan Norali @ Ag Norali Ag Damit acknowledged that the program provided significant benefit to industry players, particularly for companies registering for the MoF certificate for the first time. For a fee of only RM450 charged by the Ministry of Finance, companies are able to participate in government tenders during its three-year validity period. 'For first-time users (of the eP system), you may encounter certain difficulties and this programme is certain to help ease the process. 'The impact (of this programme) is to prevent third parties from taking advantage of companies seeking to register with the ePerolehan system by charging unnecessary fees, despite the registration process already being fairly straightforward,' said Norali in his statement on the ePerolehan Malaysia and commercedotcom Facebook pages. Hari Bertemu Pembekal eP: Daftar & Lulus in Sabah was the second in the series for this year involving the support of eight officers from the Sabah Federal Treasury (PMSabah) and 11 officers from commercedotcom (CDC). This one-day programme offered direct assistance to companies in completing their MoF certificate registration before proceeding to the review and approval process. 'I had been wanting to register with ePerolehan for a long time, but I've only been approached by external agents. I found that using middlemen made the application process more complicated. Today, I attended this programme and manage to succesfully obtained the MoF certificate myself,' said Fadli Faris, a business owner. In addition to this programme, Norali stated that PMSabah has also started the 'Sanang Saja Bah Daftar eP' initiative, which shares the same objectives but targeted to all the districts across Sabah. 'For example, we are targeting Paitan, Sabah, which is a newly established district (with full district status), where the number of companies registered with eP is still low. Therefore, this area will be one of the target locations where we will implement the 'Sanang Saja Bah Daftar eP' programme,' he said. The upcoming programme 'Sanang Saja Bah Daftar eP' is scheduled on 14 and 15 May 2025 in Tawau, from 9:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m. Additional information is available on the official PMSabah website. However for both of these initiatives, the immediate approval does not apply to registration applications for Special Category (Bidang Khas) and Bumiputera status. ePerolehan, a Government Electronic Procurement system for products and services, developed and managed by CDC, is the only system used by the Federal government that provides a virtual marketplace for both government agencies and businesses nationwide.
