Parliament leaks again

By Lee Yuk Peng and Yuen Meikeng, The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: A heavy downpour caused the lobby of the Parliament House to be drenched after the roof sprang a leak, but the Dewan Rakyat will continue with proceedings.

It is believed that this is the sixth time that the roof of the 45-year-old building had leaked leading to the MPs’ lounge at the lobby to be flooded.

“This is a very old building. It was built in 1965 and it has its own system. It wasn’t supposed to be air-conditioned but when we included air-conditioning, we had to make adjustments,” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said yesterday.

Asked about the cause of the leak, he said: “I don’t know. Ask the Public Works Department as they conduct maintenance on all government buildings.”

Nazri added that proper maintenance was carried out and engineers from the department were stationed at the building.

Several pails were placed in the area and a large plastic sheet was also used to cover the wet area.

Nazri added that Parliament proceedings would continue as usual.

“We are staying here, there is no doubt about it. But it has to be a Cabinet decision. As soon as the Cabinet makes a decision, we will inform the public,” he said.

Several opposition MPs said that measures had to be taken to overcome the problem.

Sim Tong Him (DAP-Kota Melaka) said he hoped that there would be a detailed report on the cause of the leak.

“We will not accept it if the leak is used as a reason to move out of the Parliament building. We must get to the root of the problem,” he said.