How will Umno to pay for new 70-storey HQ, MPs ask

Two DAP MPs have questioned how Umno can embark on an ambitious plan to redevelop its headquarters, despite the party being in the red.

Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming said news reports have indicated that Umno was making losses of late and questioned how the party would fund the project.

"As the largest political party in Malaysia, which also controls the government machinery and resources, they must be subject to greater public scrutiny," Nga said in a statement today.

He cited reports by The Malaysian Insider, which claimed Umno's financial documents for the year-ending 2014 showed that the party made a loss of RM30 million that year.

The new project, dubbed KL Putra World Trade Centre, was launched yesterday by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

How was land acquired?

It will include the refurbishment of the existing Putra World Trade Centre and the taking over of the adjacent Putra Bus Terminal.

When completed in four years, KL PWTC will comprise a 70-storey office and hotel tower, a 5,000-capacity mosque and a retail podium.

The project would be undertaken by Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd, a public-listed company which is about 40 percent owned by the Employees Provident Fund.

Umno has not revealed the price tag for the project.

Similarly, Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai said it was only right for Umno to provide details on how the project would be financed in view of the party's eagerness to implement a law to regulate political financing.

He also urged Umno to reveal details on the acquisition of the Putra Bus Terminal.- Mkini