‘Mueller’s appointment based on experience’
KUALA LUMPUR: The appointment of Christoph R Mueller as chief executive officer of (CEO) of Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS NewCo) was based on his ability and experience in rehabilitating a troubled airline.
Deputy Finance Minister 1 Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the problems faced by Malaysia Airlines (MAS), was the same as that of Aer Lingus, which was successfully rehabilitated by Mueller when he joined the Irish airline.
“We chose Mueller as he had turned around Aer Lingus.We did not simply choose someone not qualified as the CEO,” he added.
Ahmad was replying a supplementary question from Senator Khairiah Mohamed in the Dewan Negara here today.
Khairiah had questioned why the top management of MAS NewCo comprised foreigners.
Ahmad pointed out that at the same time, MAS NewCo had retained the former MAS CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, as a nonexecutive director as his expertise and experience was still needed by the company.
In replying to Khairiah’s original question, he said to date, 5,500 employment opportunities at 30 companies had been made available to those MAS employees whose services had been terminated.
“At the same time, 2,611 other employees had registered with KUALA LUMPUR: The use of frozen rubber “cup lumps” in the construction of Malaysian roads is expected to contribute to the target of enhancing domestic usage of the commodity by 10 per cent annually.
Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the move to increase domestic usage is among efforts to stabilise rubber prices and reduce the impact on about 300,000 smallholders in Malaysia.
“The uncertainty in the global rubber market is the main challenge faced by this industry.
“Rubber prices on the global market is influenced by a number of factors, including demand and supply, as well as the economic growth of key importing countries.
“By using rubber in the construction of roads, the government hopes to contribute to the target of increasing domestic rubber usage by 10 per cent annually,” he added.
Uggah said this at the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Public Works Department (PWD) here yesterday. — Bernama the Corporate Development Centre(CDC) established by Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
“The CDC has made available 448 programmes, among them being career counselling, entrepreneurship, retirement planning, basic training as well as skills in searching for jobs to enable the employees to plan their future,” he added.
According to Ahmad, the compensation and facilities provided for staff leaving MAS and those retained, cost RM1.5 billion.
“The government was also forced to spend RM19.2 billion from 2001-2014 to help MAS following the airlines’ failed privatisation in the 90s.
Khairiah had asked the government to state how the MAS rehabilitation plan would ensure the welfare of the terminated staff. — Bernama MELAKA: Len Cheong Holding Bhd, a company that manufactures home furniture and involved in sawmilling, is interested in setting up a new raw materials division.
Group chairman Datuk Dr Sow Chin Chuan said the new set-up is important towards strengthening the company’s competitiveness in facing the challenging furniture and wood industries business yesterday.
He said the move was also important towards optimising the sourcing, utilisation and conversion of raw materials into various intermediate and finished products.
“This new division is a group strategy in focusing on upstream activities.
We confident and optimistic of achieving commendable earnings in the coming year.
“We will, however, continue to focus on our strength in materials processing to extract a higher recovery of raw materials for our range of products,” he said in the company’s annual report.
Sow said the groups’s management and operating costs is under pressure due to implementation of the minimum wage policy, an increase in the electricity rate, reduction in fuel subsidy and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.
He said the group registered a turnover of RM23.8 million for the financial year 2014 which was a decrease of 7.3 per cent as compared to RM25.7 million in 2013. — Bernama
Use of ‘cup lumps’ in road construction can boost domestic rubber usage by 10% annually We chose Mueller as he had turned around Aer Lingus.We did not simply choose someone not qualified as the CEO.
Datuk Ahmad Maslan, Deputy Finance Minister 1