[Malaysia Chronicle] SYABAS CEO's fat salary becomes the focus on Twitter
|The Umno-aligned Rozali|
The users have been posting comments about the salary of SYABAS's Rozali Ismail, who earns some RM425,000 a month, 19 times more than the salary of the prime minister, at RM22,826.65 a month.
“If UMNO's brand of Ketuanan means paying its GLC CEOs RM425,000 per month, then I also want!" shouts one named 'anthraxxx'.
Rozali (left), who is a former UMNO branch treasurer, is among the target of the Selangor government's campaign to "restore water rights to the people of Selangor", which aims to collect signatures to oppose the company's proposed 37% water tariff hike, and de-privatise the management of water resources.
The campaign will culminate in a rally at the National Mosque on Sunday, where organisers plan to submit a memorandum to the Agong.
'Rich CEO of debt-ridden company'
Another twitterati under the name 'bongkersz' questions the logic of paying a high salary to a CEO of a company which suffers from a debt of RM2.9 billion.
“CEO getting RM425k/month and bonuses, Syabas is in debt of RM2.9 bil? Bailout money to pay salaries?” he asks, referring to figures provided by the state government in their water campaign.
PAS's Kuala Selangor member of parliament Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad had earlier given a breakdown of the debt of RM6.4 billion currently sustained by the four water concessionaires in Selangor, with SYABAS's at RM2.9 billion, Puncak Niaga at RM1.3 billion, Splash at RM1.6 billion and ABASS at RM600 million.
“1.5 million residents of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were forced to pay high prices for the water supply, unreasonable penalties as well as often poor service quality. Huge grants and loans were handed out for capital expenditures,” Dzulkefly wrote in his blog recently.
Online television show PopTeeVee presenter Fahmi Fadzil could not help making a comparison between Rozali and Najib's salaries.
“Good morning! May you make RM14,200 today, just like Syabas CEO! Or downgrade sikit to RM733.33 today, like our PM,” he twits.
A twitterati calling himself 'fickryyaacob', suggests that Rozali may have helped fund UMNO's election campaigns in the past.
“Is every payment for a litre of water flow(ing) to UMNO? Are you funding UMNO’s election funds?” he asked.
Meanwhile, there has been speculation over the cyberspace that the private water company had instructed its employees to protest against the Selangor state government at the state mosque in Shah Alam today over its decision to restructure the state’s water industry.
“What kind of employer forces its staff to attend a demo? Isn't it unproductive time?” said Tricia Yeoh, a research officer at the Menteri Besar's office.
Taken from http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/