KUALA LUMPUR: The potential privatisation of the civil service will not result in job cuts, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
He said the government was exploring ways to deal with the bloated civil service through a privatised entity instead of terminating their services.
"And of course without causing any of the workers to lose any of their benefits. This must be stressed again and again.
"In terms of timeline, that would be dependent on the proposals that are offered, at the same time it will also be discussed with the affected workers. But what I would like to say now is that this is something that is in progress. It will not be done quickly or immediately without giving regard to the concerns of all stakeholders," he said during a panel session at Invest Malaysia 2019 here today.
Lim said during the privatisation of Telekom Malaysia Bhd in 1984, civil servants were absorbed into the new corporatised entity.
“I do not want this to be misinterpreted. We are not sacking civil servants but to transfer them to the new corporatised entity. This, in terms of timeline, is dependent on the proposals offered and also discussed with affected workers.
“This is something in progress. It will not be done immediately without taking into account concerns by stakeholders,” he said.
Last week, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that several government departments may be privatised to house staff members who will be removed from civil service.
Dr Mahathir said that this was among several options being looked into to help sustain jobs for the former civil servants.
He was commenting on the need to trim the number of staff in the civil workforce, which is said to be bloated at 1.7 million.