Bashir stays for another year

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) MD, Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad, will be staying on for another year in the group, which has been under fire for the delay in completing klia2.

In a statement yesterday, MAHB announced that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) had extended Bashir’s services as managing director for another year effective June 7.

“The MAHB board welcomes this extension as they would like Bashir to continue to lead the management and guide the company towards continued success and performance,” MAHB said.

Bashir, who had said at the MAHB AGM in March that he would like to make way for a successor, has agreed to stay on to continue to support the board, according to the statement. 

“The MAHB board, in due course, will put in place a succession plan to ensure a smooth transition for this important post,” MAHB said.

Bashir, 64, has been at the helm of MAHB for 10 years. He was appointed MD on June 7, 2003.

Investment analysts said MAHB is currently in fire-fighting mode over the delay in completing klia2. With the airport operator facing a public outcry over the issue, it is not hard to fathom why MoF has extended Bashir’s services.

“Who wants to take over the post, which is equivalent to inheriting problems that have yet to be resolved at this moment?” said an analyst.

MAHB has made the newspaper headlines of late for the wrong reason owing to the delay in completing klia2.

The group has yet to announce a new date for opening klia2 as it needs to conduct a detailed scrutiny on the work programme and resource planning of contractors behind schedule.

The airport operator has announced that it would penalise contractors who have failed to meet the deadline and has said it will not be granting further extensions.

Parties involved in the project seem to be pointing fingers at each other.

MAHB, which took over the project from KLIACS (a former unit of MoF) in September 2011, has highlighted that contractors have failed to meet deadlines, while contractors have defended themselves by saying that the delay had been mainly because of changes to designs and additional amenities at the new terminal as requested by MAHB and AirAsia Bhd.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 7, 2013.