(Melaka, Sunday) : Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam should clarify whether the cost of renovation works to treat the termite problem in the Sri Temenggong police flats in Taman Sentosa costs a shocking RM 40 million instead of the more than RM 10 million estimated earlier. I had visited the flats yesterday upon receiving complaints from nearby residents who were worried for their safety after all police personnel and their families in the 9 blocks of 4-storey flats comprising 540 units had moved out two months ago.  

The nearby residents told me that the contractor had stripped the flats bare off the roof, windows, doors and floorings leaving only the four walls intact. They were worried whether the buildings were structurally sound and in danger of collapse as they were built on a hill slope. In view of the poor record of maintenance by JKR, it would not be surprising if the buildings collapsed, which would affect the homes of nearby residents in this densely populated housing estate. 

I had investigated the complaint and was told that the renovation works were done due to extensive damage done by termites. All buildings were structurally sound and not in danger of collapse. So bad was the termite damage that all police families have to move out and the renovation works require two and a half  years to complete by November 2009. 

As a result of JKR’s failure to treat termites annually since the buildings were completed 16 years ago at a cost of more than RM 30 million, the flats were no longer safe for occupation. This is most negligent and unprofessional as it would have been cheaper to spend RM 200-300,000 a year on termite treatment. In 16 years that would not cost more than RM 4 million as compared to the more than RM 10 million to renovate and refurbish the buildings with aluminium and not wood to avoid any repeat of termite attacks. 

However I am told that a Melaka State EXCO member had revealed that the cost of renovation and rebuilding the flats is not RM 10 million but RM 40 million. If so, then the RM 40 million renovation costs are even higher than the RM 30 over million spent to build the police flats. Only in Malaysia is the renovation higher than the original construction cost. 

This is a classic case of “penny wise pounds foolish’, when JKR refuses to spend this small amount of money yearly on termite treatment. Clearly the poor maintenance culture that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdulllah Ahmad Badawi complains about is alive and well in JKR. In the end JKR has to spend so much more to rebuild and renovate the buildings. 

The cost of renovation does not include additional costs to move out the 540 families and spend rental to house their families elsewhere. This is another shameful example of poor maintenance culture, lack of professionalism and incompetence as well as neglect of government properties. The BN government should not try to cover up but must take action against those responsible whether from JKR or other government departments because it is unacceptable that RM40 million of public monies can be lost without any accountability and justification.