JOHOR BARU: Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor Sdn Bhd (KPRJ) chief executive officer Datuk Noorazam Osman says he is still “shocked” over his appointment as the new Johor Baru mayor.

       Noorazam said he received the appointment letter from the state secretary Datuk Azmi Rohani on Thursday (Aug 12) around 3.30pm.

       "I’ve nothing much to say at this moment and expected to report for work on Sunday (Aug 15)," Noorazam said when contacted on Friday (Aug 13).

       He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Government and Public Policy from Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom in 1990.

       The father of five children aged between 12 and 24, was born in Stulang Laut, Johor Baru and joined the Johor Civil Service (JCS) in May 1991.

       Upon joining the JCS, he was posted to the Johor Baru district land office as assistant district and administrator effective June 1991.

       In 1995, he became the private secretary to the then Johor mentri besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.

       Thereafter, he was assigned as assistant director of the Johor State Economic Planning Unit (UPENJ).

       Norazam was appointed senior assistant director (Macro and Privatisation) in UPENJ from 2003 until 2006, when he was promoted as UPENJ deputy director 1.

       During the same period, he was also holding the post of director of Syarikat Air Johor Holdings Sdn Bhd.

       In 2013, Noorazam became the Kota Tinggi district officer and subsequently the Muar district officer in January 2017, and in November 2017 as the Sports Johor Sdn Bhd CEO.

       Sports Johor is a wholly-owned subsidiary of KPRJ, and the former is responsible for the development of sports in the state and the main organiser of Sukma Johor 2020, which has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

       On June 5, 2018, he was appointed as the CEO of the state-owned KPRJ, the first Johor government servant to hold such a post.

       Earlier, Johor Baru mayor Datuk Adib Azhari Daud’s remand period was extended from Friday (Aug 13) to Monday (Aug 16), to aid investigations into alleged bribery involving project approvals at the Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP).

       Initial investigations showed that Adib Azhari, who was just weeks away from retirement, allegedly accepted money from contractors to approve projects while he was mayor of MBIP.

       The 60-year old Adib Azhari was Iskandar Puteri mayor from Nov 22, 2017 to Nov 16, 2019. He became Johor Baru mayor on Nov 17, 2019.

       Before MBIP was upgraded to a city council, he was the president of the Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MBIP’s previous name from Jan 17, 2017).

       The case is being investigated under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.