The Negri Sembilan government today announced that the appointments of all new imam, bilal and siak by their respective district Islamic religious department officers, were invalid.

The same applied to the renewal of contracts of such mosque officials.

Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan said this matter had to be rectified and if not, the state government would take action.

“We view this matter (hiring of the mosque officials) seriously because state policies apply. As such, any state religious department officer who does not comply with the policies will face disciplinary action,” he told a media conference in Seremban today.

Prior to this, the state government had decided to extend the services of the mosque officials concerned, which were to end last December, till March this year.

However, there were cases where the officers in charge in certain districts took it upon themselves to terminate the contracts of existing mosque officials and hire new ones.

Mohamad said they had also issued appointment letters to those recruited.

“I understand the officers concerned did not consult the state religious department on making the appointments, and the director, when asked, said he had no knowledge about the development.

“In fact, copies of the appointment letters were also not forwarded to him (the director) or the state religious department’s coordinator for mosque and suraus.

“They (the officers who did the hiring) are trying to act smart,” he said.

- Bernama