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We won’t pay Kedah Agro’s outstanding wage bill, says Sanusi

FMT Reporters

-24 Mar 2024, 02:12 PM

Menteri besar Sanusi Nor says any GLC that doesn’t contribute to the state’s coffers is ‘like a leech, just sucking the government’s blood’.

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Sanusi Nor said while the state government will not foot Kedah Agro Holdings’ salary bill, it might consider providing it a loan.

PETALING JAYA: Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Nor says the state government will not provide state-owned Kedah Agro Holdings Bhd money to pay its 24 workers who have reportedly not been paid their wages since last September.

On March 19, human resources minister Steven Sim told the Dewan Rakyat that Kedah Agro Holdings will settle its current salaries and outstanding wages totalling approximately RM560,000 before Hari Raya Aidilfitri following a meeting between the Kedah GLC and the state government regarding the reported salary arrears.

He also said that Kedah Agro Holdings decided it will cease operations by the end of March, with termination benefits and salary in lieu of notice to be fully disbursed in three months.

In an Utusan Malaysia report today, Sanusi, who is also Menteri Besar Inc (MBI) Kedah chairman, insisted the state government would not be footing Kedah Agro Holdings’ salary bill, but it might consider providing it a loan.

Sanusi claimed that while the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) state government allowed MBI Kedah to partially cover the salaries of Kedah Agro Holdings’ employees, he was against such practices.

“I don’t want to betray Kedahans’ trust just to help these 24 people,” he said, adding that the company had been flagged by the national audit department as far back as 2017.

“Government funds and taxpayer money cannot be used to pay salaries for companies that are not (budgeted) as part of the government’s expenditure.

“The government has never paid Kedah Agro Holdings’ salaries since it was established. What it can do, though, is to borrow money from the state government to pay these salaries.”

However, Sanusi said he was wary of providing loans to government linked companies (GLCs), especially if they are not profitable.

He added that he had clearly outlined his policy on such matters in 2020, when he declared that state GLCs which cannot contribute to the government’s coffers should be closed.

“GLCs are set up to generate profit for the government. If there are 30 people working in a GLC and they don’t contribute anything, it’s just sucking the government’s blood,” he said.

“It’s not a GLC, it’s a leech. I don’t want to defend leeches.”