RM300mil building among nine projects axed to save money

Cutting costs: Mohd Amin says some of the DBKL projects were not necessary, but many people had been lobbying for them.

 KUALA LUMPUR: The redevelopment of a new Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) administrative building in Jalan Raja Laut costing RM300mil is one of the major projects cancelled by mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz in a move to cut costs.

Mohd Amin told Star Metro that the initial plan was to sell DBKL Tower 3 Bandar Wawasan in Jalan Raja Abdullah and build a new building called Menara DBKL 3 in Jalan Raja Laut.

The idea, he said, was to house all departments under one roof to boost efficiency and productivity.

Currently, some City Hall departments are housed in Menara 2 and DBKL Bandar Wawasan.

“We found that this (new building) was unnecessary and we could do without it,” Mohd Amin said.

Also scrapped were three council home projects with a combined value of RM359mil. They are Project Satu Mas valued at RM285mil, Wirajaya Wangsa Maju (RM34.5mil) and UOA Bukit Kerin­chi (RM40mil).

The RM125mil redevelopment of Pasar Pudu was also cancelled.

A land acquisition deal (including building) at Lot 12, Seksyen 59, Jalan Tangsi (Wisma Ekran) for RM24mil and an Itis (Integrated Transformation System)/LED lighting system project in neighbourhoods costing RM119mil were similarly axed.

Also culled was a road upgrading project in Jalan Segambut costing RM77mil, which was to connect the KTM bridge heading towards Mont Kiara.

“These (projects) are not crucial and can wait,” Mohd Amin said, adding that all in all, a total of nine DBKL projects were cancelled.

He said the DBKL Sports Club redevelopment project had also been cancelled due to a land matter.

“When we decided to demolish the club last year, we did not know it was going to be a problem. But we are working on it, as the club serves an important function for DBKL staff and the Brickfields community,” Mohd Amin said.

“We want to spend money wisely. Some of the projects were not necessary, but there were so many people lobbying for them.

“I was not able to say ‘no’ (before).”

The mayor also said some projects such as the Jalan Tun Razak project for the Tun Razak Exchange had cost the Government RM300mil.

“The commitment from the previous Federal Government was hardly enough and we had to use DBKL money as well,” Mohd Amin said.

On Monday, the mayor told reporters after attending a meeting with the Council of Eminent Persons that DBKL was cancelling RM1bil worth of projects in the city.

He said some of the projects were at the tender stage and no offers had been finalised at the time of cancellation.