By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, Nov 14: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg brought cheer to roughly 24,000 state civil servants when he announced a one-and-a-half-month bonus for them during his winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly today.
This includes those working with state statutory bodies and the councils, and the windfall would be paid by the end of next month. The amount is 1.5 times their basic salary or a minimum of RM2,000.
According to State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani, the state government would send out a circular to all state departments and statutory bodies for its implementation.
“The bonus this time is the biggest so far for the state civil service. And for that, we are very thankful to the Chief Minister and the state government for recognising our contributions in implementing the government’s policies and projects,” Morshidi told DayakDaily when contacted.
He hoped the bonus would be a motivating factor for state civil servants to perform their duties well.
Commenting on the same issue, Second Minister of Finance Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said the state government’s decision on the bonus was a show of appreciation for their contributions to the state.
“We want to motivate them to fully implement all the programmes and projects. As you know, the (2019) budget is huge and probably the civil servants will have to work doubly hard to deliver the implementation of projects, which are worth billions (of ringgit).
“With that, we hope that it will increase their implementing capacity to deliver all the projects on time,” he said, stressing that ministers and elected representatives were not eligible for the bonus.
Wong jokingly said state civil servants could be paid higher bonuses next year if the economy permits. — DayakDaily — DayakDaily
