Onn Hafiz and Exco reach out to people to ensure smooth service delivery

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The approach of going down to the ground to see for themselves and delve into issues of the community will continue to be the 'bridge and method' of Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi's team to resolve any problems faced.

Acknowledging the challenging situation to rebuild the economy following the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the country in 2020, Onn Hafiz said he was making efforts to improve government policies to ensure their continuity for the welfare of the people and to increase Johor's competitiveness as the southern gateway to the country.

"The main thing is to build the economy. I want to make Johor more economically competitive, and also resolve the people's issues involving basic matters like roads, floods, land issues, health and so on.

"If we want to achieve progress for the state of Johor, I have to make sure the basic matters are resolved first; it has to run concurrently," he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama here recently.

Commenting on his administration which will enter 100 days on June 24, Onn Hafiz, who took the oath of office on March 15, said from the beginning he had taken the approach of reaching out to the grassroots to see for himself how problems could be resolved at the state government level.

"Alhamdulillah, I have been to all 10 districts and that was a part of my personal KPI (Key Performance Indicators) because I want to know the situation in each district and I did not go down alone. I work in a team with the Exco and I need to get them to speed up and know the situation in every district in Johor.

"So we met during the fasting month and Aidilfitri, with each meeting involving a session with the district office to understand the latest situation," said the 19th Johor Menteri Besar, who often stresses the need to strengthen the basics in the 'Southern Tiger' state, which has a population of 3.8 million.

Onn Hafiz has grabbed the limelight lately, especially among the Johor community, by visiting public service premises to ensure its delivery system is running smoothly and well utilised by the people.

Among the things he did were riding incognito on a bus from Johor Bahru Sentral to Singapore, surveying the situation at the Setia Tropika Home Ministry Complex in Johor Bahru and checking the condition of basic infrastructure such as routes at Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA).

The 44-year-old Menteri Besar enjoys using social media such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp to convey messages to the people for speedier communication.

"As a leader in this modern era, we can't run away from using social media but this doesn't mean I push the (traditional) media away. If there are press conferences and interviews like this, I am more than happy to do it.

"I also get a lot of feedback from social media because when the public sends a report along with pictures and sometimes videos, as a responsible leader, I cannot ignore it, right? I have to take action to resolve the issues," he said.

On 'Ikhtiar Barisan Nasional (BN) Johor', the party's manifesto during the Johor state election last March, Onn Hafiz said the state government was committed to delivering all initiatives including economic development, people's well-being, Orang Muda Johor (OMJ), cultivating an administration with integrity and implementing political reforms for the sake of economic and political stability in the state.

"In regard to political reforms, we need to amend the state enactment not only on anti-party hopping but also several other enactments that I will look into but will save for the June 14 mandate.

"So before I can change it in the state, I have to align it with federal (laws). Let federal sort it out at the parliament level," said Onn Hafiz.

This Tuesday, the Menteri Besar is scheduled to present the vision and mission of Johor for a period of five years at a mandate ceremony to be attended by state and federal civil servants.

Onn Hafiz, who is the Machap assemblyman, replaced Datuk Hasni Mohammad, who was appointed as the 18th Menteri Besar on Feb 28, 2020.

-- BERNAMA