Samy Vellu should go on public television to be questioned by a panel comprising MPs and NGO representatives as to why he handed over the RM270 million court complex in Jalan Duta, KL to the Prime Minister’s Department when it was so sub-standard and full of mishaps – without CF?

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Media Statement      
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Saturday) : For two consecutive days on May 9 and 10, 2007, I had asked in my media statements whether a certificate for fitness for occupation (CF) had been issued for the second largest court complex in the world in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur in view of its many mishaps, and if so when.  

If no CF was issued, why was the court complex allowed to be used; and if there was CF, whether actions would be taken against those who had been so negligent as to issue the CF when there are still so many defects, including structural ones, which had to be rectified? 

The was silence from the relevant authorities for a fortnight, until Berita Harian front-page headline today screamed:  “Mahkamah tiada CF – DBKL belum terima sebarang permohonan: Datuk Bandar” 

I am surprised that the Datuk Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the law portfolio, had not acted with dispatch following the alert I sounded on May 9 as to whether there was any CF for the Jalan Duta court complex. 

Nazri should also explain why two different figures for the cost of the court complex had been quoted by the media in the past month – RM270 million and RM290 million. Or have we reached a stage where RM20 million is chickenfeed and is not worth any bother, when damages, losses and criminal misappropriation are in the region of hundreds of millions or even billions of ringgit? 

The spanking new complex at Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur has been hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons – ceiling collapse, cracks on the walls, faulty toilets, air-conditioning breakdowns, power disruptions, ankle-deep flood in the cafetaria caused by burst pipe, overflowing sewerage manhole in Level II basement storeroom damaging court files and documents, and the latest, the entry of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to investigate the entire construction scandal with nobody having any confidence that the ACA would not be wasting its time and resources. 

But there has been no end of troubles for the spanking new court complex, as today’s press reported that more than 50 court staff and lawyers were stranded outside the new Jalan Duta court complex for several hours yesterday after officers from the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) and the Road Transport Department (JPJ) ordered the court's shuttle service to stop operating. 

Imagine this happening a week after the Chief Justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim declared himself satisfied after a surprise visit following complaints of parking woes and transport arrangements ferrying people using the court complex!

The spanking new court complex in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur, the world’s second largest court complex, is now the main and very productive source for  the Malaysian judiciary and nation becoming  the butt of international banter and jokes. 

Reduced to the same level of ridicule is the Transparency International’s latest global report on corruption in judicial systems where Malaysia is ranked very highly – No. 9 in the world!   

This ranking is so ridiculous that Malaysians, whether in public or private sector, reacted in disbelief and incredibility and no Cabinet Minister dare to come forward to boast about it, knowing he or she will become an instant  national joke.

The court complex in Jalan Duta, KL was built by the Public Works Department, and this was why there was the grand handing-over ceremony last month from the Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu to Nazri, before it was handed over to the judiciary.

Samy Vellu should go on public television to be questioned by a panel comprising MPs and NGO representatives as to why he handed over the RM270 million court complex in Jalan Duta, KL to the Prime Minister’s Department when it was so sub-standard and full of mishaps – and even when there was no CF? 

If he dare not appear on television to subject himself to a public grilling on the greatest building scandal in 50 years of Malaysian history, Samy Vellu should do what is honourable, accept full responsibility and resign from the Cabinet.

(26/5/2007)