3 days Ago By Audrey Dermawan
BUTTERWORTH: Civil servants must change the way they deliver services so as to tackle the crisis of public trust in government departments, which are still seen as inefficient.Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz said new methods, including the use of applications, should be intensified so that the public no longer has to wait long to receive services.He said changes were necessary to avoid further complaints about slow services that lead to dissatisfaction and negative comments towards government departments.
"I have previously served in many departments that deal directly with the public such as the Road Transport Department (RTD), Immigration Department, National Registration Department (NRD), Customs Department and various other counter service departments."So, from there, I saw the need for a shift in how civil servants deliver services at counters, especially for those requiring documents, birth certificates, passports, driving licences and so on," he said.Wan Dahlan was speaking to newsmen after attending the northern zone HEMAT aspiration talk programme at the PICCA@Arena Butterworth Convention Centre.
The programme, under the PSD, in collaboration with the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) northern regional campus, also saw Wan Dahlan launching the book "H.E.M.
A.T: Aspiration Towards Reform., which can be used as a guide for civil servants.
Elaborating, he said the government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim placed great importance on speed in delivering public services, in line with the recent salary increase for civil servants after 12 years without any increment."The public demands fast and quality service because they pay taxes..
.and the prime minister often says, with salary increases, service must improve."Therefore, I urge department heads to sit down with their officers to find ways to improve, so what we (civil servants) receive matches the pay we are given.
"Although services provided now are better than before, they still need improvement because we don't want to keep hearing complaints from the public."This includes developing technology applications so the public no longer needs face-to-face interaction with government staff but can carry out transactions digitally," he added.© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd.
