Nazri apologises over inaccurate reply on Parliament relocation
By The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz has apologised in Dewan Rakyat over an inaccurate reply about the Parliament building relocating to Putrajaya.
“I take full responsibility for the mistake. I do not want to blame my officers,” he told Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) on Wednesday.
“The answer is inaccurate. The Cabinet has yet to make any decision on whether to shift the Parliament building to Putrajaya,”
He also said this was his first available opportunity to clarify matters and he did not want to make a ministerial statement on the matter as it would not give MPs a chance to question him, he told Fong Po Kuan (DAP – Batu Gajah).
On June 8, in a written reply to Sim Tong Him (DAP – Kota Melaka), Nazri said the Government planned to build a new Parliament building costing RM800mil and preserving the existing one as a heritage building.
The written reply also said the Cabinet had decided to have a new building in Putrajaya.
The reply sparked off a heated debate both inside and outside the house due to the large sum that would be spent and whether it would be a good move to relocate the building to Putrajaya.
The current Parliament house was built in September 1962 near the Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens. The building cost RM18mil and was the brainchild of Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.
The complex consists two parts: a three-storey main building and its 18-storey tower annexe. Within the building are two national assembly halls, the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) and Dewan Negara (Senate).
The tower, which houses the offices of ministers and MPs, is adjacent to the main building and is connected by a bridge.
The Parliament house, with its old plumbing, electrical wiring and other facilities, has come under more and more frequent repairs and upgrading in recent years.
