KANGAR, Dec 11 — The Perlis government has terminated the contracts of 70 employees this year as part of the state’s cost saving efforts not to rely heavily on the federal government’s assistance, says Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man.

He said the appointment of the event manager to manage government programmes was also discontinued and the tasks would be performed by officers of the departments concerned.

"Currently there are 333 vacancies at various levels, but the new intake will only be made according to the needs,” he said in reply to an oral question from Noor Azam Karap (Pakatan Harapan-Kuala Perlis) at the State Legislative Assembly here today.

Earlier at the sitting, Azlan tabled state 2019 Budget of RM268.73 million.

He said the state government had also revised its half-year spending in 2018 while government departments and agencies that received allocations were required to restructure priorities to enable cost savings of 15 per cent.

Azlan said the state government had also reduced the allowance for the Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK) chairmen from RM900 to RM150 and the secretary from RM500 to RM100 per month. — Bernama