IPOH: The state government has fired seven executive-level officers of a government-linked company (GLC) in Perak, which was previously under Barisan Nasional (BN), following overhead cost issues.
Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu said the decision was made after the chief executive officer of the company resigned from his post recently.
“After reviewing the amount of money spent by the GLC in order to pay the salary, office rent and cars... the amount has reached about RM1.6 million per year.
“After we fired these seven people, we managed to save about RM150,000 per month,” said Ahmad Faizal who refused to divulge the name of the GLC.
He said this at a press conference after attending the Hari Raya Open House with PH in Tanjung Rambutan here.
Describing the overhead costs as “ridiculous”, Ahmad Faizal said the decision to fire all seven executive level officers was crucial in order to minimise costs.
“What I can see is that this company is a bit ridiculous because they are not making profit but only creating overhead cost. They even had several unnecessary officers.
“This is what I need to do if I need to overcome the overhead issue, I have to fire so many staff and they will have no income,” he said, adding that the state government was ready to tackle the problem.
On a separate note, Ahmad Faizal said the state government would not be purchasing new cars for the state exco members. They will have to use the cars currently available or opt to use their own cars to attend events.
He also stressed on the need for the state government departments to do away with meals after meetings and keep such expenditure to only important occasions, for example, Hari Raya.