Happiness in the hands of the Cronies
Contract staff, Pemandu directors paid more than Chief Secretary, says MP of spending spike
Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming said such high wages — more than that of the Chief Secretary — had contributed to the 13 per cent increase in the budget for the prime minister’s department.
“In a parliamentary reply I received on the 1st of October, I was informed that the yearly salary, allowance and the bonus of the CEO of Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM) was RM830,500 which works out to approximately a monthly salary of RM69,000,” said Ong in a statement here.
He said the government had also revealed that the CEO of the Land Transport Commission was paid RM40,000 a month, a yearly allowance of RM162,000 and a bonus of RM60,000.
The CEO of TalentCorp, according to him, receives a monthly salary of RM30,000 and a monthly car allowance of RM5,000.
“All these CEOs are paid monthly salaries which are higher than the monthly salary of the highest paid civil servant which is the Chief Secretary which has a maximum monthly salary of RM23,577,” he added.
Ong said that the only exception to the rule is the Pemandu CEO Datuk Seri Idris Jala, who is paid the same salary as a minister.
In addition to that, staff in Prime Minister’s Department agencies—who are mostly on contract—are also paid higher than their civil servant equivalents.
“For example, a director at PEMANDU — which is equivalent to a JUSA A/B civil servant — has a maximum salary of RM49,000 a month, an associate director at PEMANDU — equivalent to a JUSA C civil servant — has a maximum salary of RM31,600 a month while a senior manager — equivalent to a Grade 54 civil servant — has a maximum salary of RM21,000 a month,” he explained.
Other agencies under the department include the Iskandar Regional Development Authority, the East Coast Economic Region Development Council, the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority, the Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology, and the Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera.
Ong also called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to stop creating new agencies such as Yayasan Hijau and the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Center which overlaps with some other existing agencies such as the Sustainable Energy Development Authority, AIM and the Malaysian Productivity Council.
The allocation for the Prime Minister’s Department has ballooned by 13 per cent from last year, compared to the 1.5 per cent increase of total budget from RM250 billion to RM264 billion.
Amid criticisms, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala said yesterday that the department received one of the biggest allocations of RM16.45 billion under Budget 2014 because its Economic Planning Unit captures all capital expenditure for development planning throughout the country.
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