THE Government will not allow companies operating in sectors deemed to be of importance to the public to be taken private, Utusan Malaysia reported.
Quoting Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin, the report said such companies must continue to be listed on Bursa Malaysia.
He said that if they were taken private, the owners would be able to do anything they wanted with the company.
“Because of this, companies with licences to operate in sensitive industries that are of public importance are not allowed to be privatised,” he said.
Dr Awang Adek added that the Government would not block privatisation bids for companies outside such industries because it would affect the country’s international business policies.
He also gave the assurance that the government would never allow any party to take government linked companies like Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd private.
> Berita Harian reported that although there have been numerous anti-smoking campaigns and rulings, the number of smokers in the country was expected to increase from 3.1 million to 3.8 million in 2015 and more than four million in 2020.
The report said the Health Ministry’s disease control department (non-communicable diseases) report showed that the young, especially teenagers, were heavily addicted to cigarettes.
> Kosmo! reported that the Road Transport Department had opened an operations office at the KL International Airport to fight the taxi tout scourge.
Quoting JPJ enforcement director Salim Parlan, the report said there would be 11 officers stationed there, working on rotation to monitor touting activities.
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