No to foreigners heading Prasarana, MAHB, say Loke and Guan Eng

Ragananthini Vethasalam Ragananthini Vethasalam Updated 6 years ago · Published on 17 Jan 2020 10:50AM · 4 Comments

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (centre) and Transport Minister Anthony Loke (third from right) at a press conference in Putrajaya today, where they spoke on Prasarana and MAHB. Both government-linked companies are currently without CEOs. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Nazir Sufari, January 17, 2020.

THE new chief executive officers of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) will be locals, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

“These two are important strategic assets, important transport operators,” he told a press conference after the signing of a supplementary agreement for the MRT 2 project between Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) and MMC-Gamuda KVMRT.

“As far as the government’s position is concerned, the two CEOs will remain locals,” he added.

However, he said members of the board of directors of the companies had yet to recommend potential candidates for the top positions to the government.

Concurring with Loke, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said there are enough Malaysian professionals to take on the job but the problem is finding the right candidate.

“We have enough professionals who are able to do the job; the only thing is to headhunt the right person,” he said.

Prasarana is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) while national sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd controls the majority stake in MAHB with a shareholding of 33.21%.

Both organisations are without a CEO following the suspension of one and the resignation of the other.

The Malaysian Insight reported on January 7 that Prasarana’s board suspended CEO Mohamed Hazlan Mohamed Hussin on Christmas Eve, mainly due to public dissatisfaction over its light rail transit (LRT) services.

The complaints are largely over the poor quality of the LRT system that has not been resolved.

A day earlier, MAHB said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that its group CEO, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin, had resigned to pursue other opportunities.

The airport operator’s board of directors had said in a statement that chief operating officer Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh had been appointed acting CEO.

Loke had previously said that the appointment of the CEOs of both the government-linked companies falls under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry. – January 17, 2020.

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Comments

  • Thats how it should be. Look for the most competent person to do the job, no more politicians or cronies please.

    Posted 6 years ago by Elyse Gim · Reply

  • Please do the selection based on competency and integrity and not based on a certain race.

    Posted 6 years ago by Rupert Lum · Reply

  • No more madey style.

    Posted 6 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • KLIA 1 and 2 is a disaster and feels more like a bus terminal rather than a gateway into the country. That's due to the incompetence of MAHB. Please find the right person to helm the top position even if it is a foreigner. No more iron rice bowl for their staff and incompetent personnel should be let go.

    Posted 6 years ago by Anonymous 1234 · Reply