The Penang government has formed a special taskforce to assist the 6,000 workers retrenched by Malaysian Airlines.

The taskforce will be headed by Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, who is also the state executive councillor in charge of human resources.

In announcing this today, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the names of the members of the taskforce would be announced on Friday.

“This taskforce will operate from the Career Assisted Centre (CAT) in Komtar, where we will try to match the skills of the retrenched workers with companies in need of staff,” Lim told a press conference.

“We will also provide legal assistance to the workers and help them understand their rights better in order to help them overcome their retrenchment,” Lim said.

So far, he said, 150 workers from the MAS office in Penang would be affected by the retrenchment exercise of the national air carrier.

This was part of the state’s contribution to Malaysia, as it stood in solidarity and support for the affected workers.