Mohd Fazly Mohd Noor, 43, said he received a notice demanding RM38,000 after he was promoted to a cadet officer and transferred from the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia in Kampung Datuk Keramat to the Department of Civil Aviation in Putrajaya.
The geospatial technician said he was unaware the Property Management Division (BPH) in the Prime Minister’s Department, which manages civil servant quarters, considered Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory and Putrajaya as separate states, which meant he could no longer live in the government quarters.
Fazly said he was ordered to pay a penalty based on the market rental rate from the date he reported for duty in Putrajaya.
“My friends thought I landed in this problem because I disregarded BPH’s regulations but the truth is I didn’t know,” he told FMT.
He said he became aware of the penalty only in February this year, but it was imposed effective from May 2015 after reporting for duty in Putrajaya.
“There is no relaxation of the penalty by either a discount or exemption. I need to pay the whole sum which will be settled by salary deductions over 60 months.”
Fazly was among 500 civil servants serving in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya who approached the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) to seek a solution to the penalty issue.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting yesterday, Cuepacs president Azih Muda said he would meet Chief Secretary to the Government Ali Hamsa to discuss the problem.
Another civil servant, Mazwan Abdullah, 35, received a notice for RM17,000 when he wanted to move out from his quarters.
Mazwan who is an assistant engineer in the Works Ministry also said he was in the dark about such a penalty.
“I want to move out of my quarters in Putrajaya to my new house under the Projek Perumahan Penjawat Awam 1Malaysia (PPA1M). I signed a form to receive the keys and BPH then issued me a notice to vacate my quarters with a charge of RM17,000,” he told FMT.
“BPH said I became disqualified because I moved to Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
He was imposed the charge in June 2016 and given until November this year to settle the amount.
FMT is attempting to contact BPH for its response on the issue.
No ‘moving out’ penalty for civil servants in govt quarters, says Ali Hamsa