ID :
345090
Mon, 10/20/2014 - 06:35
Auther :

Central And Local Government Partnership Vital For UN Sdg's Success - UNDP Official

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz and Erda Khursyiah Basir PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Effective partnership between the central and local governments is the key in building inclusive, safe and sustainable cities and human settlements in the world, as is envisioned in the United Nations' New Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), said UN Development Programme (UNDP), Director of Global Centre for Public Service Excellence (Singapore), Max Everest-Phillips. He said he was impressed with Malaysia's development in these areas as he had seen vast improvements in various sectors. "The way that Malaysia is now, it is totally different from 20 years ago. The progress is remarkable. The change is delightful. "The quality of education is clearly good, so as the infrastructure here," he told Bernama. He was one the panellists at the SDG and the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Implications for Cities and Local Governments panel discussion session. The session was part of the the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration & Management (CAPAM) biennial conference, held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC), here Sunday. Other panelists were Secretary-General of the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry, Arpah Abdul Razak; United Kingdom's Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, Carl Wright; Director of Christchurch Rebuild Programme (Inland Revenue, New Zealand), Bruce Findlay and Director of Research, Centre for Liveable Cities Singapore, Dr Limin Hee. The SDG proposal had 17 goals with 169 targets, covered a broad range of sustainable development issues, including ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests. He said the proposal will be considered in the upcoming UN General Assembly as part of the broader post-2015 development agenda that world leaders are expected to adopt at a Summit in September 2015. Everest-Phillips also lauded Malaysia's initiative for transformation in the public sector, especially in improving service at the local government level as this will bring the government closer to the people. "From the presentation of Arpah Abdul Razak I saw that the federal government has played an important role in development. This is really an important factor," he added. Meanwhile in a separate session, The Contractors Registration System (CRS), which was introduced by Singapore under its innovative and efficient procurement system for public construction projects, has provided a one stop registration system for contractors. Director, Procurement Policies Department, Building and Construction Authority of Singapore, Tan Chee Kiat, said as a centralised registry, the CRS registered contractors who are interested in tendering for construction and construction-related public projects. "Before 1985, every public agency had their own registration system and this had led to the informal sharing of contractors' information, possible corruption and incurred more resources," he said in his presentation at the International Innovations Awards Finalists held in conjunction with the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) biennual conference, here. On the other hand, he said that the innovative features of CRS, introduced in 1985, comprised holistic assesment system of contractors, e-system and interviewing of technical personnel. He said that among the effectiveness of the CRS were minimising the possibility of corruption, reducing confusion on requirements and fees and helping to save cost and time. The CRS also monitored the contractor's performance and shared information with the agencies whereby the information was used to evaluate tenders before awarding contracts. As for the long term benefits, he said that the system had helped to reduce wastage of paper, save the environment and that contractors could submit applications at anytime and anywhere (online), thus reducing waiting time over the counter or manual registration. "Initially, there was a problem in ensuring that the government agencies utilised CRS and contractors and subcontractors register with the system," he said, adding that to solve the matter, some of the solutions taken included making it compulsory for government agencies to only use CRS contractors for all construction and construction-related public projects. "We also collaborate with the ministry of finance, work closely with government agencies to understand their requirements in developing CRS, and work together with industries to understand their capabilities," he added. About 1,500 delegates from 53 countries are attending the three-day conference which began Sunday. The CAPAM biennial conference, organised in collaboration with the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) and the Commonwealth Secretariat, is themed, 'Public Service Transformation: A New Conversation'. In conjunction with the conference, an inaugural Commonwealth Media Forum co-hosted by the Chief Secretary to the Government's Office and Malaysian National News Agency, Bernama, will be held on Tuesday. --BERNAMA

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