It said the payout was made to ease the employees’ burdens for Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

“The bonus was approved by the board of directors, which is the highest governing body of a company. AKSB is a private limited company,” it said in a statement, according to Berita Harian.

“The practice of giving tokens to board members and employees is a common practice for companies as a gesture of appreciation and to help alleviate the burdens of the staff members in celebrating Aidilfitri.”

The company’s bonus payout came under the spotlight after a copy of a purported circular went viral recently. According to the circular, AKSB’s directors received a RM10,000 bonus while the staff members received RM200 each.

AKSB filed a police report on the leakage of the document against a Facebook user. Yesterday, the police summoned the individual accused of leaking the circular.

AKSB senior manager Nazmi Ghazali Azmi sidestepped queries on the circular, saying instead that the sharing of confidential documents was an offence under the Official Secrets Act.

Clean water supply has been a perennial issue in Kelantan, with the state government citing a lack of allocations from the federal government as the main reason for its water woes.

However, natural resources, environment and climate change minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the main issue was alleged mismanagement in AKSB.

He said Kelantan’s water woes will never be resolved unless AKSB addresses its governance issues.