(Borneo Post; September 3, 2010)

SIBU: The Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) is proud to be among the first few government agencies in the State to have its own intranet-SMCNET

It is the second in the State under the local council category after Kuching North City Council and also second of its kind in Sibu, after the Sibu Water Board.

SMC Chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King said the Information Technology (IT) age has changed the way information is communicated, distributed and accessed.

The council, he said is aware of the importance of digital age and actively participated in it as the local authority and municipal services provider.

"Being the third tier of the government, councils are required to make decisions and set directions to promote the social, culture, environmental and economic well-being of the communities.

"Local councils contribute to the good governance of the communities by providing directly or on behalf of the central government the adequate, equitable and appropriate services and facilities for the community," he said.

Tiong was speaking at the launch of the portal at his office in Wisma Sanyan here, yesterday.

He added that good governance required good decision making which came from good, speedy and reliable source of information.

SMCNET is a network based on the Internet which is accessible by over 600 SMC employees including its 27 councillors.

The portal also added other links for their staff's convenience which includes mygovernment, e-news, paybillsmalaysia, Sibu official website and other State e-government portals.

He urged the employees to make full use of the intranet to obtain optimum benefits and at the same time able to build up SMC's 'Sharing in a Family' culture which offers excellent service delivery to their customers.

He said it was a useful tool to facilitate and promote internal communication and information sharing given the easy access to internal files and documents from employees individual workstations.

"Sharing of data and information, made possible through the Intranet, not only helps in saving time but also creates a paperless office," he said.

SMC deputy chairman Daniel Ngieng and Secretary Hii Change Kee were among those presents at the ceremony.