New landmark for Umno HQ

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno is set to get a new home in a 70-storey tower as construction begins to build the party’s new national headquarters in the Golden Triangle.

To mark the start of the project, a ground-breaking ceremony to construct the new party headquarters was beamed via live telecast from the project site at Jalan Putra to the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil during the party’s 71st anniversary gathering last night.

Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak pulled out a golden keris from its sheath to signal the launch of the ground-breaking ceremony.

The new Umno headquarters will be housed in the tower located at KL PWTC, which is a project to redevelop the Putra World Trade Centre.

Apart from the tower, the KL PWTC project will feature an integrated lifestyle environment comprising a new world-class Tun Razak Hall and exhibition halls, a 5,000-capacity mosque as well as a retail podium.

The project will also see the refurbishment of the existing Merdeka Hall and Menara Dato Onn, which currently houses the Umno headquarters.

The 70-storey office and hotel tower will be built on the site of the existing Hentian Putra Bus Terminal and carpark. The project is expected to be completed in 2020.

Meanwhile, three party veterans have been honoured with the Outstanding Malay Personality Award 2017.

Tan Sri Hanafiah Hussain, Tan Sri Mohd Yusuff Latiff and Tan Sri Napsiah Omar were chosen based on their contributions to the party as well as loyalty and service to the nation’s development.

Hanafiah, 90, is the founder of the first bumiputra accounting firm in the country, and has held various positions in the government, including the Jerai MP between 1964 and 1974.

Mohd Yusuff, 87, is the first political secretary to the former Penang chief minister and Penang Umno election director.

Napsiah, a former Wanita Umno chief, has held various ministerial positions.