GOBIND CONFIRMS RESIGNATION OF 4 MCMC BIGWIGS
They include chairman and chief operating officer
COMMUNICATIONS and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo has confirmed that four senior officers of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) have resigned.
He said MCMC chairman Tan Sri Dr Halim Shafie, chief operating officer Datuk Dr Mazlan Ismail and two other senior officials submitted their resignations on Monday.
He said their resignations would be effective from July 1.
“Candidates have been identified and their names will be announced soon. What is important is to look at the existing structure.
“There are suggestions that the posts of chairman and chief executive officer be separated. All these have to be studied and taken to the cabinet,” he said.
Gobind had earlier expressed his dissatisfaction with the way MCMC handled issues related to data infringement and cyber attacks, including the BOT (Internet robot) attack on polling day.
On another matter, Gobind said the government was considering merging Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama).
He said a committee comprising people from various backgrounds would be formed on Wednesday to study the proposal.
“There are different views about the merger, so I have to study all aspects. There is a proposal for Bernama to be responsible for news and take over from RTM.
“This may reduce costs and the savings could be used to upgrade RTM programmes,” he said at his ministry’s open house at Dataran Gemilang here.
Gobind is reported to have said in an interview with The Malaysian Reserve recently that the government was considering merging RTM and Bernama as a cost-saving measure.
He also said RTM had been given six months to revamp its image and be more aggressive in drawing viewers.
“However, any decision made has to be taken to the cabinet to get the views and guidance of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“This is because Bernama was set up under a parliamentary act.
“So, if there are changes, the law must be amended and tabled in Parliament,” he said.