"WE ONLY BARELY SURVIVED AND IT WAS MADE COMPLICATED WITH THE CHANGE OF CHIEF MINISTER EVERY TWO YEARS,"

'Rotation dried up State Treasury'

Kota Kinabalu: The State's financial standing became stronger after the scrapping of the Chief Minister rotation system, said outgoing Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary, Datuk Haji Yusoff Mohd Kassim.

Yusoff who retired on Jan. 31, 2010, said he cherished the moment he took over from Datuk Abdillah Hassan in 2006 as Permanent Secretary under the stewardship of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who is also Finance Minister.

Speaking at a farewell dinner for him and three other Ministry personnel at Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort, Sunday, he said he was among the first batch of officers transferred to the Ministry after the change in the State Government in August 1994.

At that time, he served as Budget Director, which was quite a heavy task in view of the State's poor financial standing.

"We only barely survived and it was made complicated with the change of Chief Minister every two years," he said, adding that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government then was also having so much on its hands as it had so many (election) promises to the rakyat that needed to be fulfilled.

"I recalled that in 1997 our reserve was only about RM60 million it was enough to pay salaries (for the State civil servants) not up to two months," he said, adding that after the 1997-2000 economic crisis the State's reserve was hovering around RM300 million.

"But now I am proud to say that with the Chief Minister leading the charge coupled with his firmness the State's reserve in 2008 went up to RM2.4 billion, which is 10-fold," he said, adding he was confident that the 2009 State reserve figure would be more.

"But I cannot disclose the figure because it is not official yet," he said.

As for the State Bond, Yusoff said Sabah managed to become the first State Government in Malaysia to get the Triple A rating from the RAM Service Sdn Bhd, which means it has the ability to honour its commitment.

"I hope I'm not trying to brag here but I think I have set a starting point for others to do better than me," he said.

In order for the MoF to continue progressing in the future, he said two aspects must be emphasised, that is, leveraging of talent and creating a learning environment.

During his administration, the State MoF also managed to get the MS:ISO accreditation and it has been continuously getting a clean certification from the Auditor-General's office.

He expressed confidence that the MoF under his successor, Datuk Pangiran Hassanel Pg Mohd Tahir, would be able to do a good job especially in the 10th Malaysia Plan, which focussed on results.

Thanking Musa for trusting him to implement changes based on the set perimeters, he said he made good of the opportunity given to him but that he could not have done it alone. "It was also due to the guidance of the Chief Minister (Musa) who gave me the opportunity."

"I thank the CM for giving me the chance to lead the Ministry for the fourth time," he said.