PUTRAJAYA, May 30 — The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) executive chairman is earning over RM80,000 a month as alleged in viral social media posts, Transport Minister Anthony Loke confirmed today.
He then announced that a review has been ordered on the salary of chairmen of all commissions, statutory bodies and government-linked bodies in the country.
“The executive chairman actually earns RM85,000 a month,” Loke said, after receiving a briefing on Mavcom operations here.
The current executive chairman is General (Rtd) Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad.
Loke, however, stressed that Mavcom is not funded by the government, but by airline passengers instead.
“The government gave an initial grant of RM90 million. There have been no additions after that,” he said.
Mavcom is funded by a RM1 fee gleaned from the taxes paid by every airline passenger here.
“Mavcom had a revenue of RM35 million last year. The annual operating cost is around RM25 million,” he said.
Loke also stressed that Mavcom will remain in place for the time being, but will be subjected to further review.
“I have raised this in Cabinet. Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has instructed the Chief Secretary to review the salaries of all these chairmen,” he said, noting that Abdullah’s salary dwarfs that of even Dr Mahathir himself.
The Cabinet recently took a 10 per cent pay cut as part of an austerity measure to reduce the government’s operating cost.
