By Olivia Miwil - January 24, 2021 @ 1:20pm
NABAWAN: Despite being a "foreigner" in a place far from home, Asmidar Zainol is highly sought-after by locals to sort out their problems.
The Nabawan Information officer from Taiping, Perak, who was posted to the interior of Sabah 17 months ago, has provided services beyond her job scope.
Nabawan, surrounded by forests, and where temperatures can dip to 18 degrees Celsius at night, has a population of 39,800, with most of them being Murut.
"My duty is to plan for programmes and give explanations related to policies, philosophies and the country's vision; to build, strengthen and expand the communications network thoroughly and effectively.
"Apart from that, we are also managing social media for the Nabawan Information office and the Pusat Maklumat Rakyat (PMR) in Nabawan.
"The PMR is an information data bank and source of information for the public and government agencies at all levels, which is available throughout the country" she told the New Straits Times.
For ongoing Covid-19 prevention programmes, Asmidar went to every village in the district, including Tulid, which is near Keningau, to inform people of the latest information, such as standard operating procedures and the Movement Control Order, either by distributing leaflets or providing Info On Wheel programmes.
As for the places that are unreachable due to geographical factors, she said they would provide soundbyte via the district office and other government agencies to broadcast either at mosques or surau, as well as through WhatsApp.
She added that the local community is keen to come to the district PMR not only to use the computer, but also to seek help from the staff for official matters.
"For example, they come to ask help on how to get claims from the MySalam protection scheme; apply for i-Sinar and Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR); and fill up Election Commission forms, among others.
"They are those who are worried about going to (neighbouring town) Keningau, or they do not know who can help them to solve their problems.
"We try our best to give assistance to them and find out details so that we could refer them to the right channel," she said, adding that the staff would also teach the villagers how to use computers.
Asmidar also shared how she had referred an unregistered married couple to the Sabah Islamic Religious Affairs Department to get their marriage certificate to be used to appeal for the BPR under the household category.
"It is indeed quite challenging to execute my duties, especially in terms of reaching out to the community via bad road.
"But, I am grateful that I can do my part to alleviate their burdens and let them know that they are not forgotten by the government despite being in remote places."
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