KUALA LUMPUR - The new RM300 million City Hall building, derided by DAP MP Teresa Kok on Facebook last week as being a “crazy” purchase, is all part of the city’s forward planning, retorted Minister of Federal Territories Tengku Adnan Mansor today.
“This is crazy. Why do they need to spend so much money for a local council’s new building?” asked the Seputeh MP in her Facebook posting. “Isn’t it better if the government uses the money to build more low-cost flats?”
City Hall staff were at the moment spread out among three buildings viz. Menara 1 and Menara 2, side by side along Jalan Raja Laut, and Menara 3, about 2 km away along Jalan Raja Abdullah. Menara 2 would reportedly be demolished to make way for the RM300 million project.
“I don’t understand why she’s making a lot of noise,” said Tengku Adnan in an interview with reporters outside Parliament today.
“By the time the ‘menara’ is ready it’ll take another five years. Not even during my time. But we have forward planning because KL is expanding. We need to house everybody (under) one roof so that we can better serve the public. Why scold me?”
He also expressed the possibility of selling other buildings owned by the city and thereby saving money on rentals in other places rented by the city.
In a written reply to the verbal question submitted earlier by Kok regarding the construction details and rationale for the new building, Tengku Adnan said that so far only RM1 million had been released for the building design.
The proposed building, designed by Hijjas Kasturi Associates for a competition organised by City Hall, has four towers interconnected by bridges at various levels. The highest tower is 57 storeys. - FMT
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