SIMANGGANG: People in the Sri Aman Division are increasingly turning to social media to raise complaints about public services and community issues.
Sri Aman Resident Mahra Salleh viewed the trend as a positive development because it showed people were becoming more proactive in providing feedback to government agencies.
However, he stressed that effective follow-up action depended largely on complainants using their real identities.
“When people raise issues on social media using their real names, it makes it easier for us to locate and meet them to obtain further clarification before appropriate action can be taken. The use of pseudonyms makes that process much more difficult,” he said.
He said this when officiating at the Ombudsman Sarawak Town Hall Session with Public Servants and the Community for the Southern Zone at Hotel Seri Simanggang on Tuesday (July 7) as reported by the Sarawak Public Communication Unit (UKAS).
Mahra said the Sri Aman Division was also among the areas recording a high number of complaints submitted to the Sarawak office of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), involving human rights issues, governance and the quality of public service delivery.
He said this indicated that the public was becoming more aware of their rights and increasingly willing to voice concerns requiring the attention of the authorities to improve government services.
Mahra encouraged the public to continue using the appropriate and responsible channels when lodging complaints so that every issue could be investigated and resolved more effectively.
Meanwhile, the town hall session was organised to improve the understanding of public servants and the community on the Sarawak Ombudsman Ordinance 2023, while also increasing awareness of the functions and role of Ombudsman Sarawak in strengthening governance and enhancing the quality of public service delivery.
Also present were Lingga assemblywoman and Sarawak Ombudsman Select Committee chairman Dayang Noorazah Awang Sohor, Sarawak Chief Ombudsman Datuk Seri Abdul Ghafur Shariff, Deputy Chief Ombudsman Alexander Unya Ambon, Ombudsman Sarawak officers, senior government officials and community leaders.
