Navaratnam tells DBKL to stop building ‘castles in the air’

Ramon Navaratnam is astounded at DBKL’s plans to redevelop its present building and has issued a six-point Programme of Protest against it.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prominent public figure Ramon Navaratnam has hit out at Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for its plan to demolish its current Menara and build a new structure in its place, saying the move showed that the local authority did not have a clue as to where its priorities lay.

In a statement to FMT, Navaratnam said, “Are they planning to build castles in the air?”

Stating how “astounded” he was at this plan Navaratnam also asked, “What kind of governance is this? Where is the accountability and integrity shown by the largest and most sophisticated local authority in our country?”

He also issued a six-point Programme of Protest, urging the president of the Bangsar Resident’s Association and “other responsible presidents (of residents’ associations) in Wilayah Persekutuan” to use it as a basis to “advise” the Dato’ Bandar to drop the idea of redevelopment.

The Programme of Protest included the holding of Town Hall meetings where DBKL officials could speak to the people and prove that the redevelopment was of a higher priority than attending to the needs of the poor in the city.

Navaratnam also suggested a task force be formed by all presidents of residents’ associations in Wilayah Persekutuan to discuss the issue at length.

An off-shoot of the Programme of Protest concerned the issue of active campaigning for the election of all local government councillors to replace its current “advisors”.

He also asked for a “full blown referendum” on the proposed redevelopment of Menara DBKL, which he cynically referred to as “airy-fairy castle in the air” and DBKL’s “pie in the sky”.

Navaratnam, who was the former deputy secretary-general of the finance ministry, also appealed to the Dato’ Bandar to scrap the plan because the funds used to rebuild the Menara could be better spent elsewhere.

“I would therefore appeal to Dato’ Bandar to withdraw this costly and unnecessary redevelopment for the sake of good governance and better priority to serve the Rakyat,”he said.

In a report published in StarMetro earlier, he backed up his argument on why DBKL’s plan of redevelopment was a bad idea saying, “There is a crying need for better low-cost housing, feeding programmes for the poor, upgrading of the transportation system, as well as enhancement of facilities that will benefit the city dwellers.”

Telling FMT that the current 12-storey structure was “attractive and functional”, he asked, “Where is the money coming from and is the destruction of a newly refurbished Menara and the building of a brand new skyscraper, not scraping our limited DBKL finances?”