‘Ku Nan out of synch with reality’

PKR ticks off the Federal Territories Minister for saying assessment rates will only be increased by 2% and cautions him to stop misleading the rakyat.

PETALING JAYA: Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor should stop making outrageous statements, said PKR MPs today.

Responding to his statement that assessment rate will only be increased by 2%, Wangsa Maju MP Tan Kee Kwong said the status quo revealed otherwise.

“Residents at a low-cost flat in Taman Melati previously had to pay RM64 per year. But now they have to cough up RM240. So what 2% is he talking about?”

“Calculations show that it’s 17% more than the current 6%. I do not know how he got the figure (2% increase),” said Tan.

“He is out of touch with reality. He should ask his officers to brief him properly instead of coming out with outrageous statements,” added Tan.

The current assessment rates are 6% for residential properties, 10% for vacant land and 12% for commercial properties.

Yesterday, at the groundbreaking ceremony of Umno Batu Division’s new building, Tengku Adnan branded Pakatan’s planned protest on Dec 16 as ‘crazy’.

He added that only 10% from the 500,000 property owners in Kuala Lumpur (KL) have objected to the hike in assessment rate.

He also said City Hall (DBKL) will only increase the assessment rate by 2%.

Stop misleading people

Commenting on the demonstration against the hike on Dec 16, Tan said they were determined to gather peacefully “to show how a lot of people are unhappy”.

Opposition MPs in the Federal Territory have scheduled the protest to be held at Dataran DBKL.

Batu MP Tian Chua echoed his PKR colleague’s views, stressing that Tengku Adnan should stop giving misleading statements.

“The hike is definitely several hundred percent. If the increase is really at 2%, he should have announced it immediately for people to make their own calculations.

“Why is he keeping KL residents in suspense and anxiety over something unnecessary?” he asked.

He added that it was the City Hall who insisted on residents to send their objection letters if they were unhappy with the hike.

“This is why on Dec 16, we are going to put in our objections.

“However, the minister should stop giving confusing statements. If he had made the announcement earlier, there would not be a need for people to object.

“Then we would not be wasting our time when the government could have just made the announcement,” he said.