Perak appoints first woman District Officer

Latipah Sehibi, 58, will be the new Kampar District Officer (DO) from tomorrow, the first woman to be appointed to the DO post in Perak.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said Latipah, who was Perak Land and Mines assistant director (management) at the Perak Land and Mines Department, replaced Datuk Ismail Hassan, who would go on retirement from tomorrow.

He said Latipah joined the public service as a general administrative officer in 1981 and became an administrative and diplomatic (PTD) officer in 1991.

"She has wide experience in management and land development, 34 years in total," he said after chairing a state executive council meeting here, Tuesday.

Zambry said the state government had appointed a woman to the DO post in line with the national policy of having 30 percent women's participation at the decision-making level.

Zambry also announced the appointment of Meor Ismail Meor Akim, 46, as director of the Perak branch of the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry, effective April 16.

Meor Ismail replaces Hilmi Mohd Noor, who has been appointed as director of the Consumerism Research and Policy Division at the ministry.

Zambry said Meor Ismail was deputy director of the State Economic Planning Unit and had served as a PTD officer since 1994.

When met by reporters, Latipah, a mother-of-three, said she was thankful for the trust Zambry had in her to administer the Kampar district and that she would do her best.

"At 58, my age is no obstacle to shouldering my responsibilities. I must study the Kampar district first to know its problems and get a briefing from the officers and the previous DO before making plans for the district," she said.