KUANTAN, July 6 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has instructed all ministers and Chief Secretary to the Government (KSN) to take their responsibilities seriously in monitoring the condition of villages across the country to further enhance the wellbeing of the villagers.

He said the directive also applies to all secretaries-general (KSU) of ministries and senior government officials.

Anwar said the directive does not mean that they have to conduct daily monitoring, but rather to check in once a month or every two months to ensure that village development is not neglected, as development cannot focus solely on urban areas.

“Yes, the government has its machinery, but sometimes the messages are not delivered. That’s why through this Kampung Angkat Madani programme, all ministers, including the PM, KSN, KSU, as well as senior government officials must adopt a village, either their own or any other.

“Why? Because everybody has their own theories about the economy, social issues, health, education, etc., but how do we measure the success of government’s initiatives for the grassroots if they didn’t go to the ground?” he said when launching the launch of national-level Kampung Angkat Madani 2024 programme at Kampung Chengal Lempong, Balok, here today.

Also present were Chief Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali and Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Fuziah Salleh.

Anwar said that he personally had been visiting his adopted village in Cherok Tok Kun, Penang, for the past few months and held meetings to understand the issues in the village.

“I was born in Sungai Bakap, but at the age of five, I moved to Bukit Mertajam and Cherok Tok Kun. I grew up in Cherok Tok Kun, so I chose Cherok Tok Kun. I even called the imam, the headmaster, and teachers to look into school dropout issues to learn why a student stopped attending school,” he said.

Meanwhile, Anwar said the launch of Kampung Chengal Lempong as Kampung Angkat Madani is part of the government’s initiatives to assess the effectiveness of policies announced by the government.

He said that sometimes, the great policies announced by the government are not fully understood by the people, but that problem can be resolved if leaders and senior government officers go down to the grassroots to provide explanations.

At the event, Anwar also presented grants of RM100,000 each to the Village Development and Security Committee (JPKK) and the Residents’ Association of Kampung Chengal Lempong.

Anwar also presented donations to 1,000 asnaf (tithe recipients) in the Indera Mahkota Parliament and 401 fishermen in the area. — Bernama