Hazlan is new CEO of Prasarana

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Mohamed Hazlan Mohamed Hussain has been appointed the new president and chief executive of Syarikat Prasarana Malaysia Bhd, replacing Masnizam Hisham, whose term was cut short.

An engineering graduate from the Imperial College of Science and Technology London, a statement from the Minister of Finance (MoF) said Hazlan has wide experience in public transport systems, oil and gas, postal and highway operations.

Hazlan’s mandate is to set a new direction for Prasarana with a view to enhancing its level of service in the public transport sector.
 
He is also to oversee the restructuring of Prasarana together with the MoF and Ministry of Transport to ensure that Prasarana operates on a sustainable financial model.

Last year, Prasarana, which falls under the MoF, recorded a loss of RM2.5bil on revenue of only RM846mil. The revenue was mainly from the sales of tickets and other ancillary services such as advertising space on trains and in bus stations.

Hazlan comes into Prasarana at a time when the entity is facing severe cash-flow problems and huge cost overruns in the Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) project from Damansara to Klang. A joint venture between Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd and George Kent Bhd is the project delivery partner  (PDP) for the LRT3 project.

Since the new government took over, the MoF has told Prasarana and the PDP to complete the project at a cost of RM16.6bil.

According to contractors, details were still being firmed up and work has slowed to a snail’s pace in the project.

Masnizam only took over as president and CEO on Jan 18 this year from Datuk Seri Azmi Abdul Aziz and had said in her parting note to the employees that when she took over, Prasarana had only three months of cash reserves to sustain.