KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — None of the 4,000 employees of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) will lose their jobs with the signing of the Railway Network Access Agreement (RNAA), Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi pledged today.
Aziz said all of the workers will be absorbed by the new KTMB subsidiaries.
"In fact, I guarantee that the workers salary, interests and other benefits that they receive as KTMB employees will not be revoked or cut," Aziz said in a statement here today.
The RNAA is an agreement between Railway Assets Corporation (RAC), an agency under the Transport Ministry, and KTMB.
It is consistent with clause 89 of the Railway Act 1991, which aims to distinguish train service operations, which is managed by KTMB, from the ownership, management, and maintenance of the train assets that will be managed by RAC.
"The issue of the RNAA leading to the privatisation of KTMB is false," he said.
Aziz also dismissed claims that the agreement would cause an increase in fares.
"Claims that the agreement would expose KTMB to cheating and cronyism is also not right," Aziz said.
Recently, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) expressed concern that 4,000 workers could be adversely affected by the agreement and urged Putrajaya to review the proposal.
The workers railway union previously held a series of pickets to demand that the proposal not be implemented and for KTMB president to be removed.
