Maternity leave set at 90 days

The Star

SHAH ALAM: The proposal for 90 days of maternity leave for Selangor state government’s female workforce and 14 days for their husbands has been approved by the state government, which is now working on the guidelines for its implementation, said Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

He said the state government was also introducing a new model for a one-stop crisis service centre at all hospitals in the state, to help women and children who were victims of sexual crimes and domestic violence.

He said the centre, which would serve as the first point of contact in such cases, would include a network of cooperation between police and the Health Department to provide speedier essential services to victims brought to hospitals.

“These programmes are part of a policy being introduced by the state government to include women in its agenda for development,” he said when unveiling the state government's programmes for the people at a gathering in the Shah Alam Stadium here yesterday in conjunction with Pakatan Rakyat’s 100 days in office.

About 10,000 people attended the function, including PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang.

Khalid also said the state government had ordered government agencies to ensure all projects were awarded on an open-tender basis, for more transparency and accountability, and that contracts would no longer be awarded through direct negotiations.

Khalid also said the state had decided to consider applications from only the poor to reduce premiums on land and would no longer entertain such requests from private companies.

He said state government would also use the increase in revenue from sales of rocks and minerals in the state for investment, and the returns would be channelled back to people through the welfare programmes such as funds for Selangor-born children, tertiary education, and free medical services for the elderly.

“A fund will also be set up to provide scholarships to estate children, and to build and manage hostels for them to use throughout the state so that they will have better access to education,” Khalid said.