En. Watt Lanyau Entaban, Bau District Officer receiving the MS ISO 9002 certificate from YAB Chief Minister

The MS ISO 9002 certification awarded to three state agencies - Kuching Resident Office, Kuching District Office and Bau District Office is the result of the cooperation and close teamwork by all the officers and support staff involved in the process towards the certification.

The scope of quality system implementation for the three agencies is for Statutory Registration Management which covers the following :

i. the Application process of general/vehicle Hire-Purchase Agreements. Under this process, all customers are required to register the general/vehicle Hire-Purchase Agreements as stipulated in the Hire-Purchase Agreement Ordinance Act.

ii. Application for transfer agree-ment for home ownership built on native land. The process involves the transfer of home ownership from the home owner to the home buyer. This process will only apply for houses sited on gazetetd native land reserve.

En. Hillary Mukit Guroh, Kuching Resident receiving the MS ISO 9002 certificate from YAB Chief Minister

iii. Application for registration on Probate Matters. The registration for probate involves the issuance of probate and /or administrative authority letter for property of the deceased.

iv. Application for adoption registration. The registration process for adoption includes the issuance of adoption certificates to the family applying for the adoption. This process takes place once the biological parents agree to give up their child/children for adoption.

v. Application for Special Marriage Oath. The special marriage oath is a process that allows the marriage to be registered speedily without having to display any marriage notices as generally required. This is also applicable to brides who are between the age of 16 - 18 years.

Providing an environment that promotes teamwork and close rapport among the officers and staff from each of the agencies helped to make the documentation work much easier. The meetings were held in a friendly and informal manner which encourages the team to actively participate in meetings and were not shy in contributing their ideas.

Problems encountered

Working as a team fosters friendship and makes the job easier

The process which started a few years ago encountered some slight problems in the course of its implementation. There were short delays because of work transfers of officers involved and the change of management representatives.

However, things began to take a serious turn by July 2000. A team comprising representative from the three agencies was formed to undertake the role of Implementing officers.

There were some teething problems because the officers were unfamiliar with the project and the MS ISO 9002 (1994) certification process. They relied greatly on the guidance and advice of MAMPU as the consultant.

The other problem was the setting up of meetings as the officers involved were from different offices and were committed to their own jobs and responsibilities which made it difficult to gather the “key players” at one time. As a result, matters discussed in previous meeting needed to be repeated which was a waste of time.

Despite these unavoidable problems, the process went ahead well as scheduled:

1. Full Documentation Process

• begins July 2000

Tuan Haji Sulaiman Hussain, Kuching District Officer receiving the MS ISO 9002 certificate from YAB Chief Minister

2. Adequacy Audit

• 2-3 October 2000

3. Internal Audit

• 15 - 18 May 2001

4. Management Review Meeting

• 19 June 2001

5. Compliance Audit

• 12 -13 July, 2001

Working as a team

Their one year of working as a team has foster closer rapport and friendship that have developed among the officers of the three agencies.

It turned them into both working partners and personal friends, making it easier for them to interact, exchange ideas and information and improve the overall working environment of the three agencies.