KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee has asked the government to set a ceiling for salaries of chief executive officers and managing directors of federal statutory bodies to prevent excessive remunerations.
Its chairman, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, said the committee was made to understand that there is no such ceiling at present, with the salaries for CEOs and MDs being different from body to body.
"The PAC wants the government, in particular the Finance Ministry, to set a ceiling so there will be no excessive payments, so much so that there may be some statutory bodies who end up not paying any dividends to the government, but have the ability to pay high salaries to their upper management," she told Berita Harian.
Mas Ermieyati said this when asked to comment on the Guidelines on the Management and Governance of Federal Statutory Bodies launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Friday.
According to the Statutory Bodies (Accounts and Annual Reports) Act 1980, a federal statutory body is any body which is incorporated under the provisions of federal law that serves as a public authority or agency of the government.
The aim of establishing a federal statutory body is to enable the government to act more efficiently without being constrained by government administrative regulations, through an entity that can operate more swiftly, in line with private sector companies.
Among such bodies are Felda, Lembaga Tabung Haji, the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), Fama and Tourism Malaysia.
Mas Ermieyati said, however, the PAC did not have any information regarding the salary range for the upper management of federal statutory bodies.
In 2018, then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had ordered the salaries and allowances for federal statutory bodies, commissions and government-linked companies to be reviewed.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke had said then that the order was issued after it was found that the salary and allowance for the Malaysian Aviation Commission chief executive officer had reached RM85,000 a month.
On the guidelines launched by Anwar itself, Mas Ermieyati said PAC was of the view that it needed to be read together with relevant laws, including the statutes governing statutory bodies, as these might be in conflict and potentially override the terms outlined in the guidelines.
"So, it is very important, in fact critical, that ministries and ministers continually review and update statutes and laws related to federal statutory bodies to ensure they align with government policies and adhere to the latest best practices.
"At the same time, the PAC also wants the government to take proactive steps by revising the memoranda and articles of statutory bodies that are seen as ineffective in ensuring good governance and where government intervention has led to abuse of power and leakage," she said.