Federal Territories minister says KL City Hall should be allowed to perform its functions professionally without having to heed orders not in line with its standard operating procedure.
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad wants DBKL affairs to be handled professionally without abuse of power and corruption.
KUALA LUMPUR: Newly minted Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad has indicated that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) received instructions from a higher authority in government over the controversial sale of 64 plots of land to developers.
He said the transactions under the former Barisan Nasional (BN) administration were now being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“MACC is looking into the sale of the 64 plots of land. In almost all of the cases there was a top-down instruction given,” he said, without elaborating.
He said DBKL should be allowed to do its work professionally without any directives that were against its standard operating procedures (SOP).
“I have given an assurance that I will not give out orders that are against the SOP. I want DBKL not to work in the interest of political cronies,” he said after his first close-door meeting with top DBKL officials here today.
On June 6, DBKL executive director (planning) Mohd Najib Mohd confirmed that MACC had seized documents related to the probe on the sale of 64 parcels of land in the capital.
He had said the documents were taken from the Economic Planning and Development Department (JPEP), which was responsible for handling land privatisation projects.
Work on all projects at the sites have since stopped.
Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng had earlier called on MACC to look into the sale of the plots, alleging that they were not in compliance with government procedure.
He claimed that 171 hectares of land had been gradually sold off since 2013 at a cost of RM4.28 billion.
Khalid said DBKL officers should point out if they did not agree with any matter on the running of the local government, adding that there should be proper checks and balances in place in DBKL and its advisory board.
He said while several City Hall systems were running smoothly, there were those that needed to be improved to eliminate graft.
“This is a new era for City Hall where all matters will be carried out professionally with no abuse of power and corruption,” he said.
“We want to build a new image. We acknowledge the problems, we are not in denial. But the root of the problem is no longer here and we can work better,” he said.
Khalid also said he was willing to meet Putrajaya MP Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor for discussions on issues surrounding Putrajaya Corp. -FMT
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