A source revealed to FMT that Masnizam had been informed by the finance ministry that her appointment was terminated with immediate effect.
In a farewell message to staff of the public transportation company, Masnizam said her last day at work is on Monday.
In the letter, Masznizam, who has been with the company for more than a decade before she was appointed as CEO in January, said she had taken over at a time when costs were spiralling in several projects undertaken by Prasarana, including the LRT3 project linking Petaling Jaya and Klang.
“If we had been firm in managing costs, we would not be facing the acute financial problems we are today,” she said.
It is understood that Masnizam’s removal from the finance ministry-owned company comes as resistance grows within Prasarana over the ministry’s decision to retain MRCB George Kent Sdn Bhd (MRCB-GK) as the main contractor for the LRT3 project.
Board members feel that more savings could be achieved if the LRT3 project is tendered out or Prasarana handles the project directly themselves.
They also say Prasarana have experience in such a project, as they had handled the Kelana Jaya and Ampang Line extensions.
A source told FMT that Prasarana had been under pressure to downsize its manpower to control cost, and as such the company was hoping for priority to be given to its own manpower.
It is learnt that during a board meeting recently, members urged MOF to give “explicit written approval” if Putrajaya insists on direct negotiation.
MRCB-GK was appointed as PDP for the LRT3 project in 2015.
LRT3 is among projects spared by Pakatan Harapan (PH) since the coalition came to power on the back of a promise to review major infrastructure works started by the previous government.
Early this month, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that MRCB-GK would be retained as the PDP, saying it would have to pay RM4.2 billion in compensation if the contract was terminated.
MOF also announced almost 50% reduction of the project’s budget, bringing the total cost down to RM16.6 billion, following several cost-cutting measures which include reducing the size of stations.
This includes a budget of RM1 billion for land acquisition, which Prasarana said was insufficient.
The company has suggested that the fees for MRCB-GK would be better used to cover the shortfall in budget.
“The only way to salvage the project is to eliminate PDP so that their fees and reimbursable could be channelled to cover shortfall for land costs and Prasarana to do it directly.”