KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur’s first female mayor, Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif, marked her final day in office by reflecting on the reforms she had overseen since her appointment on Aug 14, 2024.
Maimunah had completed 457 days in office, her tenure shortened by nine months. She will be taking on a new role as PETRONAS Property Adviser starting Monday (Nov 17).
Datuk Fadlun Mak Ujud, who previously served as Putrajaya Corporation (PPj) president, has been appointed as KL mayor effective Saturday.
At a press conference at Menara DBKL 1 on Friday, Maimunah said her guiding principle throughout her service was to restore “the human spirit” in city governance.
“From the very beginning, I wanted every policy, every project and every decision to give meaning to people’s lives,” she said.
She described the gazettement of the Kuala Lumpur Local Plan 2040 (PTKL2040) on May 28 as among her top achievements, calling it the most important structural reform in a decade.
“PTKL2040 is not just a plan. It is the foundation of a more organised, inclusive and resilient Kuala Lumpur,” she said, noting that she personally reviewed more than 60 development proposals to ensure they aligned with sustainability, mobility and heritage protection goals.
Touching on governance and financial efficiency, Maimunah said she took “bold steps” to reform how Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) manages procurement and expenditure.
She said these changes produced measurable results, with DBKL recording a current surplus for the first time in more than 10 years.
DBKL posted a RM27.6mil surplus in 2024, a sharp turnaround from deficits of RM75.3mil in 2023 and RM283mil in 2022.
She attributed the improvement to prudent spending, value-for-money practices, a Centralised Contract Management System and the Procurement Integrity Framework.
Maimunah also highlighted social and community initiatives introduced during her tenure, including the development of 5,000 Rumah Majlis units, the Residensi Madani projects and programmes such as K2K and Cash Plus for vulnerable groups.
She said efforts to make Kuala Lumpur safer and more inclusive for children were personally meaningful to her as a former UN-Habitat director.
“I wanted to ensure the city never forgets those who need it most,” she said.
On environmental and climate efforts, she cited the Kuala Lumpur Zero Waste 2040 Roadmap, Operation Zero Waste, which cut over 9,000 tonnes of waste, and the expansion of the urban composting programme to more than 120 communities.
She said the launch of VisitKL, OSC 3.0, Adu@KL and a new cybersecurity policy strengthened the city’s position as a competitive smart city.
“As of September, 91.40% of public complaints were resolved, and I monitored this weekly,” she added.
A tearful Maimunah then thanked DBKL staff and Kuala Lumpur residents for their continuous support.
“Although I take on a new role, part of my heart will always remain with Kuala Lumpur,” she said.
