Set pay cap for federal statutory bodies' top guns, PAC tells govt

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called on the government to set a salary cap for federal statutory bodies, saying that it is necessary to prevent the agencies from paying excessive remuneration to its top executives.

PAC chairperson Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said the committee learnt that the government has not set any such ceiling, New Straits Times reported.

This, she added, had caused the salaries of chief executive officers and managing directors of the statutory bodies to differ from one agency to another.

“The PAC wants the government, in particular the Finance Ministry, to set a ceiling so there will be no excessive payments, so much so there may be statutory bodies that end up not paying any dividends to the government, but have the ability to pay high salaries to their upper management,” she said.

Mas Ermieyati (above, centre), who is also Masjid Tanah MP, was reportedly contacted by NST sister company Berita Harian for PAC’s take on new government guidelines for federal statutory bodies, launched by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim last week.

However, the PAC chairperson said they did not have any information on the salary range of the top management in federal statutory bodies.

A federal statutory body is an agency incorporated under federal law and is a public authority, but operates as a separate entity that has the power to administrate; sue and be sued on its own name; sign contracts; and own, buy and hold assets.

Among the federal statutory bodies are Lembaga Tabung Haji and Felda both parked under the Prime Minister’s Department, while those under the Finance Ministry include the Employees Provident Fund, Securities Commission and the Inland Revenue Board.

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