IPOH, Jan 25 — Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohammad today said no major firms were involved in the closure of 27 Perbadanan Kemajuan Perak’s (PKNP) subsidiaries that were identified as non-performing and burdensome.

Saarani said that the firms that were shut down had only been operating for a short period of time.

"Some of the subsidiary’s companies only have a board of directors and no other staff. This is because they don’t have business activities yet.

"The companies have also established recently,” he told a press conference at the Perak Chinese Chamber Hall’s Chinese New Year celebration at the Kinta River Front Hotel here.

For those subsidiary companies with existing workers, Saarani said they will be transferred to other subsidiary companies within PKNP.

When asked for the details on the companies that were closed, Saarani replied that he did not have the names of the companies.

Yesterday, Saarani announced that the state government shut down 27 of its subsidiaries identified as non-performing and burdensome to save costs.

He said the companies were closed for not carrying out business activities and not contributing to the state government.

"We found that they were not performing, had no business and were not able to give back to the government and even burdened the parent company which had to take the responsibility of paying salaries and so on," he was quoted as saying.

Saarani also said the state government targeted to gradually achieve a total contribution of RM100 million from all government-linked companies (GLCs) by 2030, adding that all relevant GLCs must carry out thorough planning on every development and project given by the government to make a profit.