by Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, April 6: The Ministry for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development has yet to be given full autonomy for matters under its purview from the Federal government through the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Its minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said she is optimistic and felt that it would be better if the Federal government gave full autonomy to the ministry to carry out its job, as it knew well what are the welfare and social issues here in Sarawak and the region.
“For instance, at the moment, welfare matters are carried out concurrently or with help from the Federal government.
“If the jurisdiction is given entirely to us, then it is good for Sarawak. This is because we know more in the context of what is needed and the situation faced by our local community here,” she said.
“The methods employed in order to solve a problem faced by the community would be more accurate as we know better the conditions that need to be met to solve such issues,” she added.
She told reporters this after the ‘Majlis Simbolik Sumbangsih Raya 2023’ event held at Wisma Wanita off Jalan Sultan Tengah today.
Fatimah, who was asked about whether her ministry had been given such autonomy further revealed that financial implications was a big issue during the discussions surrounding MA63.
“Apart from that during the discussion, we have to look at the aspect of the law and the administration’s point of view.
“So when we talk about giving full autonomy to administer our ministry, we need to look at all aspects.
“This includes the financial aspects as well as the law and administrative side,” she said. — DayakDaily
