(Borneo Post; December 6, 2006)

KUCHING: Information and Technology Communication (ICT) infrastructure in Sarawak has to be vastly improved to ensure effective usage of Human Resource Management Information Service (HRMIS) application in the future, Chief Minister Pehin Seri Abdul Taib Mahmud said.

He said e-government demanded civil servant be IT-literate, if not IT-savvy and hence vast improvement in ICT infrastructure would not only enable the older civil servants to cope with modern technology but would also narrow the digital divide.

Given its vast area, he said wiring all rural schools and communities in Sarawak was a Herculean task for the state government.

“So far, only rural schools have been wired, 46 rural libraries connected to Internet and 94 rural clinics enjoy Internet facilities.

“The state government has set up 12 electronic-resource centres at the district level and 15 IT-Corners, in collaboration with Angkatan Zaman Mansang (AZAM), a non-governmental organisation,” he said at the launch of the HRMIS application at a hotel here yesterday.

Housing Minister Dato Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, who represented Taib, read the text of the latter's speech.

The Chief Minister pointed out that HRMIS was a pilot project developed under the initiative of electronic-government (e-government), a prime application created under the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC).

He said its utilisation would ensure a systematic intergation of human resource data that would assist in human resource planning of the public sector .

In the long run, HRMIS would also assist in generating relevant data and information which is turn, would help to create knowledge based society through rigorous research, he added.

Taib congratulated the Federal and State civill service for successfully launching the first HRMIS project after a lull of seven years.

“The trial and error period of seven years has come to a successful conclusion. Nonetheless, I believe that the money, time and effort are well spent, especially in the training of managers, supervisors and personnel to acquaint themselves with the intricacies and deliveries of the sophisticated systems,” he said.

He believe HRMIS, as an IT tool would undoubtedly enhance the effective service delivery by public sector managers in response to the Prime Minister's call to achieve high rate of implementation of projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

State Secretary Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Husain, who spoke earlier, urged all State civil servant ti take the opportunity to access and examine the personal record to ensure the relevant information and record were accurate.

He said accurate information would not only help the human resource management to keep a complete and latest information but also to expedite the process and the government in its planning process.

Aziz believed the utilisation of HRMIS application and further development of its strategic application would improve the e-government initiative of the State government.

Public Service director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam also spoke at the launching.