The Perak Menteri Besar delivering his New Year Message 2021.

IPOH, 1 February 2021 – During his Executive Talk and New Year Message 2021, Perak Menteri Besar Dato’ Saarani Mohamad emphasised on five aspects to be focussed on throughout 2021.

All these five focusses are also the key to the main agenda of Perak. The five focusses are as follows: -

1. Stimulating a Sustainable Economy

The Menteri Besar proposed that the state government look at revenue generating opportunities for the state in 2021 without introducing new taxes that can burden the people and industry players. The various methods include: -

• A friendlier approach of collecting revenue by continuing to provide land tax arrears discounts or late payment penalty waivers. This indirectly encourages taxpayers to pay taxes immediately as well as potentially attracting more people to pay taxes.
• Reviewing existing agreements and policies that can benefit the state and the people, especially in sectors involving land, water and forest resources.
• Enhancing enforcement and preventing revenue leakages by ensuring that state revenue is not illegally exploited by any party.
• Exploring new products by harnessing the potential of Perak with its strategic location in addition to the availability of resources and assets such as minerals, natural resources, ports as well as the richness of flora and fauna.
• Focussing on agriculture which is very important in ensuring food security.

2. Strengthening the Public Delivery System

The Menteri Besar outlined 3 approaches that can be practised by Perak civil servants to improve service delivery: -

• To listen carefully, see - This attitude needs to be instilled among us to be more sensitive to the problems occurring around us and take early action to deal with them.
• To Go down to the ground, formulate solutions - This proactive approach to reach out to the people should be the practice of every department; we can no longer just sit in the office to receive complaints but should always be down on the ground to identify issues, know the problems and needs of the people.
• To Work together - The spirit of togetherness needs to be strengthened between state and federal agencies, including statutory bodies and GLCs as well as putting aside the status quo and ego differences. All departments and agencies working together to achieve goals for the common good, not individual interests but more to the shared goal to be realised.

3. Upholding Social Justice and Poverty Eradication 

The Menteri Besar stressed that the eradication of poverty should be restored as an important agenda of the government. High-impact projects need to be redoubled to address issues of poverty, unemployment and reduce income gaps. 

4. Driving Modernisation and Digital Culture 

The Menteri Besar affirmed that the State Government will facilitate and provide undivided support for efforts to improve digital infrastructure with the aim of improving the coverage and quality of telecommunications services to ensure continuity and diversity of infrastructure in supporting the digital ecosystem as well as ensuring quality services provided to consumers. 

5. Leading Sustainability of Resources and the Environment 

The Menteri Besar insisted that the state Government be committed to be a leader in resource and environmental sustainability by creating a holistic plan to promote the "Perak Bumi Lestari" agenda. It is hoped that this agenda will be able to drive the state’s development sustainably. My strategy to implement the “Perak Bumi Lestari” agenda is outlined as follows: 

• Enculturing Environmental Preservation and Conservation - Among the efforts that need to be emphasised under this strategy is to increase public education and awareness of the environment; implement immediate and proactive action to address issues and problems related to the environment as well as strengthening the role of the private sector in environmental management. The practice of avoiding single-use plastic for example should be applied in the respective departments as part of the enculturisation process. 

• Building a Conducive Environment Based on Green Technology - The state government welcomes cooperation with the private sector through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) to implement green technology initiatives to support the construction of a conducive environment. Examples of renewable energy projects such as solar, hydro, geothermal energy and so forth. Investors related to the green technology industry will be interested in investing if we provide incentives or attractive packages for them. 

• Ensuring Balanced Development - The Perak State Government is committed to formulating a balanced development strategy, that is, to protect and conserve nature while implementing development. Among the focus under this strategy is to harmonise and integrate the environmental dimension in the policy of all sectors, as well as strengthening enforcement related to environmental issues.

The five main thrusts were presented by Perak Menteri Besar Dato' Saarani Mohamad in his speech at the Executive Talk and New Year Message 2021 Ceremony held virtually at the Perak State Secretariat Banquet Hall. 

Also present were State Legislative Assembly Speaker Dato' Mohamed Zahir Abd. Khalid, State Secretary Dato' Ahmad Suaidi Abd. Rahim, State Legal Adviser Azmir Shah Zainal Abidin, State Financial Officer Dato' Zulazlan Abu Hassan and State Exco Members. 

This is the first ceremony conducted virtually involving all state assemblymen and state and federal department heads in Perak.

Source : Corporate, SUK Perak.