Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh
KUCHING: The sudden departure of Datuk Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman from the post of State Financial Secretary (SFS) is puzzling, said Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh.
He said Ahmad Tarmizi is only 58 years old and had not reached the retirement age.
“One wonders why the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government would allow a person of Tarmizi’s calibre to leave at this crucial moment when the state is facing unprecedented levels of uncertainty and severity across various fronts including maintaining a strong fiscal position.
“To borrow an old adage: ‘…to change horses midstream is not a clever move’. If it is his own decision to step down, the state government should have asked or persuaded him to stay on to help the state tide over this difficult and challenging time, particularly when we are now facing ‘a mighty storm’ brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Wong said in a press statement.
It is understood that Ahmad Tarmizi, who has been the SFS since July 1, 2004, was succeeded by one Datu Wan Lizozman Wan Omar on June 1.
Wong said Ahmad Tarmizi has had a distinguished service record for 17 years as under his capable leadership, the state was repeatedly accorded with a ‘Clean Certificate’ for its public accounts, which is a testimony of his good governance practices and sound management of financial affairs.
The Bawang Assan assemblyman also pointed out that international rating houses, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, had given the state very commendable investment-grade credit ratings during Ahmad Tarmizi’s 17 years.
These assigned ratings reflect a sustained record of sound financial management and performance, underpinned by strong reserves and prudent budgetary practices, he said.
“Also under him (Tarmizi), the state reserves had been steadily built up from a mere RM5 billion in 2004 when he took office to RM31 billion in 2019. These outstanding achievements had been the results of the continuous disciplined culture inculcated by him in the state financial management over the years,” said Wong, who is former state Second Finance Minister.
He also said the world was now experiencing unprecedented challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic and as an open economy, Malaysia was susceptible to global conditions.
The global economy, he said, was anticipated to remain very challenging in the face of volatility in commodity prices particularly oil price, pressure on global interest rates, inward-looking policy platforms and protectionism by the United State of America and a sharper than expected tightening in global financial conditions.
“In the light of these economic and financial challenges, we would require an experienced, capable hand in the person of Datuk Ahmad Tarmizi to help us to overcome these difficult periods we are now going through,” said Wong.