Its secretary-general Richard Yong We Kong said Liew, who is also the tourism, culture and environment minister, must come clean on the reasons for the dismissal of Sabah Tourism Board (STB) general manager Suzaini Sabdin Ghani.

“Suzaini, who was removed without any advance notice, is known to be capable and has contributed a lot towards the growth of the Sabah tourism industry.

“For her to be removed at almost no notice, there must be an explanation. After all, this new government has been talking about transparency and good governance,” Yong said in a statement today.

FMT last week reported that tourism players here were shocked over Suzaini’s sudden exit, pointing out she had been doing a good job at improving the state’s tourism industry.

This was after her dismissal was posted on social media by her uncle, Abdul Jalil Ghani.

Suzaini became general manager in January last year.

Jalil, without mentioning Suzaini’s name in his post, said it was unjust for the “STB GM, a single mother”, to be dismissed from her post without any clear reason or any domestic inquiry carried out.

Liew explained that the decision to relieve Suzaini of her post was made by the STB board of directors. She also denied that the removal was politically motivated.

Yong questioned Liew’s claim of ignorance of the changes in the STB, the biggest agency under her ministry.

“The minister made it seem like she operates in a vacuum, oblivious to all the happenings around her. Is this really the case?”

“The minister contradicted herself when she claimed that the dismissal of the general manager is not political.

“How would she know the reasons, whether political or not, if she really does not know what happened?”