KUALA LUMPUR: The Legal Aid Department will expand its services to Sabah’s east coast with the proposed establishment of two new branches in Sandakan and Tawau.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department M. Kulasegaran confirmed that a proposal paper for the new offices is being prepared for submission to the Public Service Department.
“The MADANI government is deeply committed to ensuring that access to justice, particularly legal aid as a basic right, is preserved,” he stated during the winding-up of the 13th Malaysia Plan debate in the Dewan Negara.
Senator Anna Bell Suziena Perian had earlier urged the government to establish Legal Aid Department offices in Sabah’s east coast, where currently only one office operates in Kota Kinabalu.
Kulasegaran also announced that the Justice on Wheels programme will continue to expand nationwide with eleven new vans added this year using a three million ringgit allocation.
The mobile legal service has already conducted fifty programmes across various states including Sabah since July 2025, reaching areas such as Sandakan, Tawau, and Lahad Datu.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar separately revealed that JAKIM will develop an Islamic Application Validation System to ensure syariah compliance.
This initiative responds to Senator Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof’s concerns about artificial intelligence challenges in Islamic contexts and aligns with digital transformation goals.
JAKIM will carefully examine technical, legal, syariah, and data preparedness aspects before fully implementing the validation system.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa confirmed completion of the value management lab for the Kota MADANI project in Putrajaya.
Findings will be presented to the public-private partnership steering committee before cabinet consideration expected in October 2025.
This integrated urban development concept will serve as the MADANI nucleus and be replicated in other cities nationwide with planned public transport connections to main government precincts. – Bernama
