Right pick to head statutory boards

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 17, 2014): Plans are underway to do away with political party appointees to head boards of quasi-government agencies and statutory boards.
Instead, appointments would be made based on people heading such boards having sufficient knowledge, expertise and experience related to the activities which come under the purview of the respective organisations.
A government source said that the Port Klang Authority (PKA) will be the first to be affected by the policy change. Its chairman has always been a nominee of the MCA – a member of the 13-party Barisan Nasional coalition.
"This is the first move which will enable the government to put in place qualified people instead of relying on political appointees, some of whom have neither the experience nor the competency.
"By having professionals with the right know-how, they can act as a check and balance with the people who are employed to run the show," the source said.
There have been instances in the past when office peons and heavy vehicle drivers, who had been nominated based on their positions in their respective parties, have sat on boards of statutory bodies.
The tenure of PKA's current chairman, Datuk Teh Kim Poh, ends next month and the "re-organisation and re-alignment" of other boards will follow.
The PKA, the source said, has been in the limelight because its previous chairmen had been directly or indirectly implicated in the PKFZ (Port Klang Free Zone) fiasco, which has now cost the government about RM12.4 billion.
Although the PKFZ was conceived and built before Teh's tenure, the source said that the decision of his board to "undo" the decisions of its predecessor did not go down well with some quarters.
Most glaring was the decision to withdraw a formal complaint to the Bar Council on the conduct of one of its own lawyers.
"There were no compelling reasons for this. The lawyer acted for both parties in the acquisition of the land for the PKFZ project. Rightly, he was referred to the authorities. But Teh's board ordered the withdrawal of the complaint," said another source who has been closely monitoring the PKA.
Three previous chairmen – Tan Sri Ting Chiew Peh, Datuk Chor Chee Heung and Datuk Yap Pian Hon – were named in two different reports on the PKFZ.
One report by PKA lawyers recommended that action be taken against them and other members of the board who had purportedly approved questionable deals.
Teh's predecessor, Datuk Lee Hwa Beng, had also moved a resolution to sue members of previous boards for dereliction of duty but was out-voted by the majority – most of whom were civil servants representing the government ministries.