In a Facebook post, Sangetha expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and transport minister Loke Siew Fook for entrusting her with the position.

“Being appointed to PKA is a responsibility that I accept with a sense of duty, viewing it as an opportunity to continue uplifting, empowering, and reinforcing the agenda and commitments of the Madani government,” she said.

Sangetha also thanked Wanita PKR chief Fadhlina Sidek for her support in strengthening women’s empowerment, saying her appointment to PKA was “recognition of such efforts”.

Previously, FMT reported Sangetha as saying that her position at PKA was yet to be confirmed, despite Fadhlina congratulating her in a poster circulating on social media.

Sangetha is the daughter of Dr Xavier Jayakumar, a former PKR vice-president and Kuala Langat MP, who was with the party until his resignation in March 2021.

Her appointment was met with some criticism on social media where users contrasted it with a tweet she made in October 2020 about the Perikatan Nasional government at the time giving out positions at government-linked companies to bolster support.

The chairman of PKA is Ean Yong Hian Wah, the Selangor DAP deputy chairman and a former three-term Seri Kembangan assemblyman.

In the PKA poster reposted by Sangetha, the port authority also congratulated two other appointees, Roslee Abd Hamid and Ismail @ Saime Zakaria.

Roslee, the Kapar Umno division chief, contested the Selat Klang seat in last August’s state election. Ismail meanwhile is a former Shah Alam city councillor appointed by Amanah.