They have seven days to resign: Loke

PUTRAJAYA: Political appointees within the ministry and various port authorities along with Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad have been asked to resign from their respective posts within seven days, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
"His (Isa) position is untenable. As a former minister, he should do the honourable thing.
"Emulate Tan Sri Shahrir Samad who resigned honourably from his post in Felda," he told reporters at the Transport Ministry, here, today.
In streamlining SPAD's functions into the Transport Ministry, Loke said the matter will take time as the ministry plans to repeal the Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat Act 2010 (SPAD).
"We will repeal the laws when the Dewan Rakyat convenes and slowly disband SPAD from then on.
"In the meantime, we will let SPAD carry out their work and functions subject to the Transport Ministry's supervision.
"All their activities will be answerable to the ministry," he said.
Loke also called on those presently holding positions in the board of directors in port authorities, who were appointed by the minister in the previous Barisan Nasional cabinet to step down within the same time frame.
"I am not going to humiliate anyone by naming names and calling them out.
"They should do the honourable thing and resign.
"I do not want to embarrass anyone by sacking them instead," he said.
On the ongoing search for the missing flight MH370 by search vessel Ocean Infinity, Loke said the ministry has allowed the search to be extended until May 29 on the same basis of "no cure no pay" as implemented by the previous government.
"Following the cabinet meeting, earlier, we have agreed for the vessel to extend its search and hope that they will be able to recover the wreckage in the given time," he said.
However, Loke stressed that potential decisions on further extensions will be only be considered after the deadline.
"The government will review all possible agreements with regards to the search for the missing aircraft," he added.
Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, carrying 239 people, disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on Mar 8, 2014, in one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.
The Barisan Nasional government had agreed in January to pay Ocean Infinity up to US$70 million (RM278.64 million) if it found the plane during a search in the southern Indian Ocean.
The search subject to extensions by the government was scheduled to end in June.