Muhyiddin Yassin has called on civil servants to understand and explain to the people the government's views on issues raised by irresponsible parties in the run up to the general election.

The deputy prime minister said this was to avoid the people from being given the wrong picture following the slanders hurled by the groups who wanted to tarnish the image of the government.

pengerang protest demo 180312 Citing an example, Muhyiddin said the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) project must be explained because the people of Johor would derive considerable benefits from it.

"The issue on the PIPC project which brings significant benefits to the people of Johor must be explained, especially the RM170 billion investment potential that can provide more than 12,500 job opportunities.

"Subsequently, this will bring economic spillover to the other sectors such as food, clothing, real estates and so on," he said at a Gathering With Johor Civil Servants at the Kompleks Islam Johor, in Johor Bahru today.

Civil servants must also inform the people and voters in the state that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government would continue to provide various facilities and programmes to help the people and improve their welfare and wellbeing, he said.

He said this was proven through the commitment in the 2013 Budget, which included the payment of bonus to civil servants; the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M 2.0, which was extended to include unmarried people); improved schooling aid vouchers and tax exemption for children's higher education which was raised to RM6,000.

Provide more efficient service

Muhyiddin also urged civil servants to provide more efficient service with integrity to facilitate business dealings, investment and national trade.

In the New Economic Model, he said the public sector was the main catalyst in economic growth.

He said that through the implementation of the Malaysia Incorporated concept, excellent service should be given to the private sector because the profit earned by them would bring more benefits to the government which would later determine the salary of the civil servants as well as national development.

NONE He said the civil servants were the prime mover for the National Transformation Policy where its success or failure depended on the extent of the efficiency and effectiveness of the civil servants in discharging their responsibilities.

The deputy prime Minister also congratulated the Johor civil servants for their contribution in achieving major successes that helped the state's economic growth.

These successes included investments by the manufacturing sector that exceeded RM10.5 billion for 2012 with the potential of churning out almost 42,000 job opportunities; a 28.4 percent increase in foreign investment to RM3.3 billion for the period January-September compared with RM2.6 billion for the corresponding period last year.

They also contributed to the achievement of the investment target of RM100 billion in various sectors in Iskandar Malaysia which churned out 154,000 job opportunities as well as the development of the tourism sector such as the Johor Premium Outlet, Legoland Malaysia and Puteri Harbour Theme Park.

- Bernama