Political appointments in GLC must be based on merit - Saarani

IPOH - Politicians appointed for posts in government-linked companies (GLCs) must be qualified and based on merit and certain conditions, said Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.

He said the appointment must also, among others, be tied to stipulated conditions and based on skills, expertise and experience.

"We want the new appointments to be made by the state government to be based on skills, expertise and experience as well as not solely based on political affiliation and this is clear.

"Same goes at the Federal level. Let’s say we want to make an appointment in the Perak Water Board (LAP), for example. So, he or she will need to have a background in engineering and at the same time be the person appointed by a political party and not a politician per se,” he told a media conference after launching the Program Teduhan Kasih Anak-anak Perak (Perak Children’s Shelter Programme), near here, today.

Also present were Perak state secretary Datuk Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim, Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIPk) director Harith Fadzilah Abdul Halim, deputy director of Education Student Development Sector, Perak State Education Department Zulkafli Mohamed Mokhtar and FELCRA Berhad Wilayah Perak general manager Yusoff Razali.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Saarani said that the state government executive council meeting today decided that the service period of Ipoh City Councillors, municipal councillors and district councillors be extended until Feb 15.

"The process for the new appointments of all posts is being carried out. The meeting also decided that the new appointments for all the posts involved will be effective from Feb 16,” he said.

Earlier, Saarani said that under the Perak Children’s Shelter Programme, allocations would be channelled to cover the cost of living and education of the children until they reach the age of 21.

"The state government expresses its sorrow for the plight of students who became orphans following the death of their parents or guardians due to COVID-19.

"We do not want them to miss out on schooling and we have, together with the cooperation from FELCRA, JAIPk and the state Education Department, started to look for and carry out screening of the affected students,” he said.

He explained that FELCRA Berhad had contributed RM252,000 in the form of profit dividend payments to guardians in 2022 and which increased to RM432,000 this year. - BERNAMA