By G Vinod and Syed Jaymal Zahiid - Free Malaysia TodayKUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz said today the government is mulling moving Parliament to the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC).
The move is awaiting Cabinet approval pending a report from the Works Ministry on the cost of the relocation, Nazri told a press conference in Parliament.
He said that the Cabinet, acceding to objections from lawmakers of both sides, has rejected the original idea of spending RM800 million on a new Parliament building in Putrajaya.
It learnt that the renovation and the refurbishment exercise on the current PICC building to accommodate the parliamentarians may cost the taxpayers about RM50 million.
Nazri said the government was considering PICC as the cost of improving the current building would cost about RM150 million.
"We can stay here but we would need RM150 million for wiring, roofing and others to improve the building. But while the renovation takes place, Parliament has sit to somewhere else and the Public Works Department estimated RM50 million for this," said Nazri, who added that renovation work would also take about two to three years.
"There was a suggestion in the Cabinet that we take the PICC. It is under-utilised and the revenue was not enough to recover the cost," he said.
PAS MP: A waste of funds
Despite the latest development, Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad was least impressed by the plan.
The PAS central working committee member said though the price tag for the renovation work is expected to be around RM50 million, he's not convinced by the figure.
“The BN government has a penchant for escalating its costs during renovation works. It may cost RM50 million now but by the time the refurbishment works are done, the price would have escalated to hundreds of millions,” said Dzulkefly.
He also said that embarking on massive projects at a time where the nation is facing financial constraints did not make sense and it would be prudent to channel funds to critical sectors.
Dzulkefly added that having a new Parliament building does not mean we will have quality lawmakers at hand.
“It is more important for us to elevate our parliamentary practices to world-class quality instead of wasting funds erecting more buildings.
“Plus, the current august House has an aesthetic and historical value. Even the British are using their old Parliament House which is hundreds of years old,” he said.
On June 9, the Cabinet announced its plan to move Parliament house to Putrajaya at a cost of RM800 million.
PICC another white elephant
PICC, a state-of-the-art convention centre, had only generated a revenue of RM2 million last year, said Nazri.
The government had spent RM600 million for its construction and Nazri said it would take 300 years to cover the cost, given its failure to generate high revenue.
"So rather than spending money on something that is temporary, it would be better (to spend) on something permanent," he said.
The Cabinet had decided on the matter three weeks ago, he said, adding that PWD has been instructed to prepare a report on the cost of relocating Parliament to the PICC.
The government had already spent close to RM100 million on the existing Parliament building's internal refurbishments and improvements five years ago.
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