The Johor government is considering a pay rise for all 56 assemblypersons commensurate with their workload and responsibilities, said Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

He said however, the pay hike would not be as high as that of Selangor assemblypersons.

“We are studying the pay hike even though we are not entangle in a desperate situation,” he told reporters after opening the Johor Agro Expo 2013 in conjunction with the state-level Farmers, Breeders and Fishermen’s Day at the Ayer Hitam Modern Agriculture Project in Kluang today.

Mohamed Khaled said neither was Johor envious of Selangor assemblypersons pay hike and wanted to match theirs.

The Selangor state assembly approved a salary hike for all 56 state assemblypersons from next year with the deputy speaker getting the highest percentage increase of 373.3 percent (from RM3,327.50 to RM15,750).

The menteri besar’s salary will be increased from RM14,175.15 to RM29,250; state executive councillors from RM6,109.29 to RM20,250; speaker from RM6,109.29 to RM22,500; and state assemblymen from RM6,000 to RM11,250.

In his speech, Mohamed Khaled said Johor had always strived to ensure that it continued to be major food producer by opening up land, developing idle land, embracing new technology and producing human capital for the sector.

“Johor has not only succeeded in reducing vegetable and fruit imports but also has been able to supply the commodities to Singapore and Hong Kong.

“According to last year’s statistics, Johor was the country's second biggest vegetable producer with a total production of more than 136,000 tonnes compared to Malaysia’s total production of 878.975 tonnes,” he said.

He said Johor remained the country’s major chicken producer with sales worth RM2.54 billion a year and produced three billion chicken eggs valued at RM1.06 billion a year.

- Bernama