KOTA SAMARAHAN: The Sarawak Ombudsman is poised to have a bright future despite only being established for a year.
Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman, Christian Britten Lundblad described the Sarawak Ombudsman as being on the right track when seeing the positive developments by the people of Sarawak towards this institution.
He said that this institution can only develop if its people make complaints about the misconduct of agencies that can be investigated under the Ombudsman.
“Yesterday I looked at the complaints board, there were many complaints submitted there. I saw that Danish people make many complaints, but I can also see that Sarawakians also make complaints if public authorities do not carry out their responsibilities as they should.
“Therefore, once again, to build trust in society, I believe that the Ombudsman institution has a bright future in Sarawak,” he said.
He said this when met by reporters after delivering a lecture titled ‘The Work of the Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman and Why Denmark Is the Least Corrupt Country in the World’ at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), on Friday.
He also expressed his admiration for how the Ombudsman in a region can be a reference for establishing an Ombudsman institution at the federal level.
In this regard, provided the establishment of the Malaysian Ombudsman is approved next year, Christian invited the new Ombudsmen to visit Copenhagen to further discuss the development of the institution in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, UNIMAS Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Professor Ir Dr Siti Noor Linda Taib said that the visit of the Danish delegation to UNIMAS has provided exposure to students about the type of arrangement or system practiced in Denmark, especially regarding developments in the parliamentary field that can be emulated and implemented in Malaysia and in Sarawak.
Also present were the Danish Ambassador to Malaysia Kirstine Vangkilde Berner, Sarawak Chief Ombudsman Dato Sri Abdul Ghafur Shariff, UNIMAS Board of Directors Chairman Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Sulong Matjeraie and other guests of honour. -UKASnews
