CERTAIN civil servants in the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry have been found ignoring orders and falsifying documents, Salahuddin Ayub said today, promising action this year after a grace period of learning the ropes as a new minister.

Salahuddin, known for his nice guy demeanour, repeatedly raised his voice to the crowd of bureaucrats who packed a hall to listen to his new year’s message today.

He did not mince his words when he singled out officers who ignored his instructions and falsified ministry documents.

The minister, who used to farm and sell fish for a living as a youth, also criticised the attitude of some officials who dragged their feet when it came to distributing subsidies, such as fertiliser and herbicide.

Officials without any sympathy for poor Malaysians and who belittled the ministry programmes to help the destitute also received an earful.

“The Salahuddin of 2019 is no more. This is the Salahuddin of 2020,” he said referring to the period when he was learning the ministry’s ropes and acquainting himself with its staff after Pakatan Harapan formed the federal government in 2018.

This year, the ministry aims to increase agriculture’s contribution to the economy and lessen imports and bring down the price of groceries.

It also wants to make the sector a viable source of jobs for youth and an income generator for rural folk from the bottom 40% of households.

Programmes to achieve these aims, which started in 2019 will be intensified this year, he said.

“You may not think much of the pots and pans, of the woks we give to poor families,” he said, underscoring the importance of schemes such as “rezeki tani”, to the officers gathered in the hall.

“Rezeki tani”, which means income from agriculture in Malay, is a scheme to provide equipment for B40 households to start small-scale food businesses.

“Or you may think, how much can an oven make a difference in a family’s life? You may belittle these things but to the people we help, these tools help them feed their kids with the money they earn from them.”

As a sign of a more dedicated hands-on approach, Salahuddin said he is cutting down on the number of official launches and cheque handing-over ceremonies he will attend.

“I’ve already told my aides. I don’t want to be on stage too much any more to launch this or give out mock cheques. These can be done by the secretary-general or his deputy.

“What I will spend more of my time on is going to the ground and meeting farmers, fishermen and traders to see that our policies are implemented and to get first-hand information on the results.” – January 6, 2020.