Transfer of PJ mayor still on, says Ali Hamsa

The imminent transfer of the Petaling Jaya City Council mayor, Mohamad Roslan Sakiman, will still go on albeit it would be delayed by about a month.

Chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa was reported in theNew Straits Times as saying that Roslan will be given a month to settle several unfinished duties at the council.

Ali said the Public Services Department has agreed to postpone Roslan’s transfer after a discussion between the department and the Selangor state secretary.

“What is the need for freezing (the transfer) in this matter? The PSD has discussed with the Selangor state secretary and agreed to give about a month in view of unfinished duties,” he said.

He was referring to Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s statement on Tuesday of a freeze in transfer of all senior state officials after Roslan’s transfer was reported.

Ali further denied Khalid’s claim that the transfer of senior civil servants take place at the beginning of the year, saying that transfers often happen not just to fill vacancies as officers need to be moved around for those who perform well to be promoted.

“In Roslan's case, there was an existing vacancy and besides this is a transfer within a state,” he said, adding that despite this being a lateral transfer, it takes on a heavier responsibility.

It was reported that Roslan is slated to replace deputy state secretary Noordin Sulaiman. Noordin is to replace Selangor state financial officer Mohd Arif Abdul Rahman, who is said to have been pulled to Putrajaya.