Tajuddin finally gets termination letter, to issue statement later

 

Newly-sacked Prasarana chairperson Tajuddin Abdul Rahman has confirmed that he had received his termination letter.

Speaking to The Star, he dismissed his removal as “not a pressing issue or something worry about”.

“I have received the letter already. There’s nothing to comment now. It’s not a pressing issue or something to worry about,” he was quoted as saying last night.

He also told Sinar Harian that he received the termination letter from Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

“I got the letter. I got it this evening. He sent the letter and I accepted it. I want to say alhamdulillah and thank you to the minister,” he told the Malay daily.

The Umno politician added that he would make a fuller statement about his removal from the government-linked company.

“I will make a statement later. To me, this is not a pressing matter,” he was quoted as saying.

Tajuddin was fired yesterday after helming the Finance Ministry-owned public transportation conglomerate for about a year.

Trains ‘kiss’ each other

His dismissal came one day after he was widely panned for his handling of a press conference on the May 24 Kelana Jaya LRT collision.

It was the worst crash in LRT history, resulting in 213 passengers injured. Some suffered from serious injuries and three remain in the intensive care unit.

Tajuddin came under fire for not immediately visiting the crash site.

During his press conference, he controversially downplayed the seriousness of the crash by characterising it as two trains “kissing each other”.

In addition to appearing to jest about the incident, he also warned journalists not to “provoke” him when asked if he would resign over the crash.

Furthermore, he did not wear a face mask during the press conference and is now being investigated by the police for a potential breach of Covid-19 standard operating procedures.

Following these antics, there was a call on social media for him to be sacked. An online petition demanding his resignation garnered more than 130,000 signatures within hours.

This is not his first controversy at Prasarana. Tajuddin previously clashed with its former CEO and was alleged to have interfered with LRT3 contracts.

Tajuddin is a three-term MP for Pasir Salak. A former deputy minister of agriculture and agro-based industry, he was appointed as Prasarana chairperson in May last year after Perikatan Nasional took power following a series of defections. - Mkini