End of the line for Tajuddin - MOF removes him as Prasarana chair

 

Minister of Finance (Incorporated) has removed Tajuddin Abdul Rahman as the chairperson of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd today.

In a letter to Tajuddin, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the removal was with immediate effect.

Minister of Finance Incorporated is the sole shareholder in Prasarana, which owns much of Malaysia's public transport networks.

This includes the Kelana Jaya LRT line, which saw an accident on Monday when two trains collided, leaving dozens injured, six critically.

Zafrul's letter to Tajuddin has been widely shared among media circles this evening.

When contacted, a Finance Ministry spokesperson confirmed the letter to be authentic.

Malaysiakini has contacted Tajuddin about the letter and is awaiting a response.

Meanwhile, Tajuddin was quoted by The Malay Mail as saying that he hasn’t received the termination letter as the chairperson of Prasarana.

“Not yet. Want to terminate, terminate then. What is the issue? What is the matter? Want to terminate, terminate lah. Thank you lah. I can do other work,” he said.

An online petition calling for his resignation as Prasarana chairperson has received more than 130,000 signatures as of 7.30pm today, in just 24 hours.

Netizens were furious with the way Tajuddin handled a press conference yesterday following the crash.

Tajuddin only went to the crash site on the next day. When quizzed on his absence, he said his determination to go to the site “first thing in the morning” was proof of how seriously he took the matter, even though his point was lost when he broke into a laugh.

He also explained that he didn’t go the night of the incident as he had just completed a meeting and wanted to prepare to get his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

When asked about the situation in the tunnel, Tajuddin told a reporter that it was “normal... only the two cars are together... they kissed each other…”. He then appeared to laugh again.

The train crash saw 213 commuters suffering light and severe injuries. A few of them have reportedly been admitted to intensive care units.

Apart from this, Tajuddin is also being probed by the police for not wearing a face mask at the press conference yesterday.

- Mkini