DRB-Hicom’s Mohamed Hazlan appointed Prasarana boss.
The Finance Ministry (MoF) has appointed Datuk Mohamed Hazlan Mohamed Hussain as the new President and Chief Executive Officer for Prasarana Malaysia Bhd effective today.
He takes over from Masnizam Hisham whose term was cut short on Sept 2.
In a statement today, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said Mohamed Hazlan graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London in 1988, and has extensive experience in areas such as public transportation and oil and gas.
He had served as Group Director in DRB-Hicom, Chief Operations Officer in RapidKL, Strategic Unit Chief Operations Officer in POS Malaysia Bhd and General Manager of Operations in Plus Expressways.
“He will be responsible for identifying a new direction for Prasarana to improve the company’s operations in the public transportation sector.
“At the same time, Mohamed Hazlan will also play a major role in restructuring the company, together with the MoF and the Ministry of Transport to implement a more efficient and sustainable financing level,” said Lim.
Last year, Prasarana, which falls under the MoF, recorded a loss of RM2.5 billion on revenue of only RM846 million. The revenue was mainly from the sales of tickets and other ancillary services such as advertising space on trains and in bus stations.
Hazlan comes on board at a time when the entity is facing severe cash-flow problems and huge cost overruns in the Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) project from Damansara to Klang.
A joint venture between Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd and George Kent Bhd is the project delivery partner (PDP) for the LRT3 project.
Since the new government took over, the MoF has told Prasarana and the PDP to complete the project at a cost of RM16.6 billion.
According to contractors, details were still being firmed up and work has slowed to a snail’s pace in the project.
Masnizam only took over as President and CEO on Jan 18 this year from Datuk Seri Azmi Abdul Aziz and had said in her farewell note to the employees that when she took over, Prasarana had only three months of cash reserves to sustain.
Related reports:
Aug 31, Ministry of Finance Terminates Prasarana CEO
Jul 27, Prasarana Denies CEO Masnizam Has Resigned
Jul 26, Likely Early Departure of Prasarana Chief over LRT3 Additional Funding