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Media Statement

by Lim Guan Eng

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(Petaling Jaya, Thursday): DAP suggests that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi take over the Works Ministry to wipe out the shame of expensive hundred million ringgit government building projects that leak, walls that cracks or ceilings that collapses upon completion. Yesterday the shame that is the RM 270 million Court Complex in Jalan Duta continued when a  leaked pipe caused flooding in 90% of the cafeteria on the ground floor with the water level ankle deep.  

Since the court complex started operations the shame of exposes of faulty and defective construction work continues unabated. Some papers even described it as a nightmare that began on April 30, just before the official opening on May 3, when two ceiling panels collapsed together with some lights. Less than a week after that, cracks measuring at least 3m long began appearing outside Magistrate's Court 4. On May 7, the air-conditioning in one of the High Courts malfunctioned, while on May 9 the entire complex experienced a blackout, resulting in several cases being postponed.  

Malaysians are angry that despite spending RM 270 million to build the second largest court complex in the world, instead of feeling pride we feel shame at the poor quality of our construction work. Such failures only highlight the lack of transparency and accountability that resulted in poor delivery system.

The problem of poor delivery has become so endemic that Works Minister Datuk S Samy Vellu has become so helpless that he is now in a state of denial by resorting to blaming other departments and even acts of God. Only a timely reprimand yesterday by the Prime Minister to Samy not to blame others but to take the necessary action, stopped the disgraceful spectacle of Samy and Parliament trading accusations of who was responsible.

This is clearly a huge blow proving the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of Samy, who has been trying to avoid blame for the shameful leakage in our 44-year old Parliament building.  Before Parliament was renovated for RM 99 million, there were no leaks. Upon completion it has leaked twice and suffered from cracks and water seepage on the concrete roof, clogged gutters, defective waterproofing and sewerage pipe leaks at VIP and other toilets.

Clearly Samy has failed in his basic duty to oversee all works relating to the maintenance of public buildings. This is highlighted by the shameful flood in the cafetaria of the new RM 270 million Court Complex in Jalan Duta. With Samy’s failure and stubborn refusal to admit he was wrong, he can no longer operate as an effective Works Minister.

The public can no longer tolerate such wastage of public funds or public money spent in return for such shoddy work. Action must be taken against government officers who fail to carry out their duties professionally in supervising or approving the construction works and against errant contractors who must be penalized and made to pay for such shoddy work.  

Since Samy has proven his incompetence and inability to carry out such work, he should be reassigned to another Ministry and the Prime Minister take over. Only the Prime Minister himself can salvage the situation to ensure there is sound delivery in government projects and that the public get their money’s worth out of the tens of billions in government projects.