Mass culling leaves PKNS unit in turmoil
(MM) – Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor Holdings Sdn Bhd (PHSB) was yesterday thrown into disarray after 23 employees — nearly two-thirds of its staff — were sacked without warning and effective immediately.
The terminations involved workers ranging from executives to heads of department, with more expected to be announced today for around 15 of the remaining staff.
The wide-scale clear-out has also left the future of the state-owned firm in limbo, as those affected were told to vacate their offices immediately and before a handover could be initiated.
It is understood that PHSB general manager Noor Hisham Mohd Ghouth has also resigned in protest.
A senior-ranking source in PHSB told The Malay Mail Online that the decision was made at the highest level of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) — the sole parent of PHSB — late Monday night.
The letters, signed by PHSB chairman Datin Paduka Norazlina Zakaria (pic), were then passed to the staff yesterday morning after they were summoned to its headquarters for an emergency briefing.
“We work on the weekends, we work late at night, we believe in what we do, and this is how they treat us?” said the source, who is also former head of department with PKNS.
“We are all humans, not animals. We all have families to support. Who will be responsible for all this?” the source added.
It is understood that all those sacked were compensated with two months’ pay in lieu of notice, but those on contracts argue that they are due more.
Citing labour laws, they said contractual workers terminated without notice must be compensated with the full amount corresponding to the length of the remainder of their contracts.
The source also claimed that their unexplained removal was done on the orders of Selangor mentri besar, insisting that only Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s office and the Sultan of Selangor are empowered to order changes to the PKNS’s top leadership.
The 23 staff members who were sacked plan to lodge a complaint over their termination with the Selangor Labour Office today.
PHSB describes itself as specialising in equity and real estate investment, marketing, property management, hospitality, ICT and investment holding.
The latest development comes after a shakeup in PKNS itself, which saw general manager Othman Omar and executive secretary Norita Mohd Sidek relieved of their duties over the removal of Selangor PKR chief Azmin Ali from its board of directors.
