THE three special envoys to the government received a total of RM27,227.20 each despite no official trips made since their appointments in April last year, says Datuk Abd Latiff Ahmad.

       In a parliamentary written reply, the Special Functions Minister said they were offered other facilities including offices, chauffeured cars and mobile phones for their official duties.

       “Based on their service contract that had been finalised, the emoluments received by all special envoys is RM27,227.20.

       “So far, no official overseas trip have been made by the special envoys to the government,” he said in reply to a question from Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir (PH-Johor Bahru).

       Akmal Nasrullah had asked the Prime Minister to reveal the emolument amount, allowances or official trips made by the special envoys who were appointed by the government since April 2020.

       The government has three special envoys, each tasked to cover a specific key region.

       They are the special envoy to the Middle East, Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang; special envoy to China, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing; and Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem as special envoy to east Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

       The special envoys enjoy the same rank as federal ministers.

       Hadi and Tiong are the presidents of PAS and PDP respectively, while Riot is SUPP deputy president.

       Their reappointment follows the formation of a new government and swearing-in of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as Malaysia’s ninth Prime Minister.