Deputy minister told to shut up

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk M. Saravanan has accused his colleague T. Murugiah of shooting his mouth off just because he is a deputy minister put in charge of the Public Complaints Bureau.

He said that if Murugiah’s rapid-fire mouth went unchecked, it would damage the credibility of the Barisan Nasional government.

In trying to champion public issues highlighted by the media, Murugiah, who is the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, should know the issues at hand, investigate and come up with proper solutions, said Saravanan.

“He (Murugiah) should not shoot his mouth off and comment on everything under the sun. If he thinks this is the way he can solve (the people’s) problems, then he is dead wrong. All he is doing is damaging the credibility of the Barisan government,” he said.

Saravanan was reacting to Murugiah’s statement that the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), which is under the purview of the Federal Territories Ministry, should undertake lift repair works at a privately-owned condominium in Sentul, here.

This followed complaints from unit owners that the lifts had not been working for the past six months. Saravanan said that the issue, which was highlighted in the media, did not fall under City Hall’s jurisdiction as the condominium was privately owned.

“We have our own mechanism in dealing with such complaints. The residents must first push the developer of the condo, failing which they can ask the management committee to handle the issue.

“The DBKL cannot carry out repair works as residents are not paying maintenance fees, and Murugiah should have knowledge of this, being in charge of the Public Complaints Bureau,” he added. — Bernama