Selangor MB to meet Pakatan leaders on salary hike
(TMT) – Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim will meet leaders from the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition to explain the salary increase involving his executive council members and elected representatives.
“I will put forward the suggestions and reasons as to why the salary increase is necessary,” Khalid told reporters after meeting civil servants from the Hulu Langat district council here yesterday.
He said no date or time had yet been fixed for the meeting but it was “expected to be held soon”.
The salary hike of the state’s lawmakers has caused a stir in both Pakatan and Barisan Nasional (BN) camps, with PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy Azmin Ali asking for a review of the decision.
Johor Baru MP Tan Sri Shahrir Samad and MCA publicity bureau chairman Datuk Heng Seai Kie were among those in the Barisan who had hit out at the state government and the PKR over the salary increase.
Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah did not object to it as long as the state representatives proved their worth and the pay increase translated to fulfilling the state government’s election pledges on improving infrastructure and other basic necessities.
Asked about issues raised by Barisan assemblymen from within and outside the state on the matter, he said: “It is a normal occurrence for members ‘from the other side’ to do so.”
Under the new salary structure, assemblymen will get RM11,250; an increase from RM6,000 (87%); Speaker from RM6,109 to RM22,500 (268%) and Deputy Speaker from RM3,327 to RM15,750 (373%).
The salary of executive council members will go up from RM6,109 to RM20,250 (231%); while the Mentri Besar will have a pay rise from RM14,175 to RM29,250 (106.4%).
On the state’s water issue, Khalid said he was confident of sealing a deal with Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd (PNHB) after the stakeholder of two water concessionaires in Selangor – Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd (PNSB) and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) – accepted in principle a proposed acquisition of the two companies by Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB).
“Yes, there are a few conditions listed by PNHB but I am confident we can reach an agreement on the matter,” he said.
PNHB, in a statement last week, said it agreed to the offer by the state government through KDEB but, among others, it wants the total equity contribution to be paid to it and this includes a compounded return of 15% per annum as compensation to the holding company for the loss of future earnings from the sale.
