KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The Public Works Ministry today defended the reported RM5.19 million contract for the maintenance of Istana Negara as "reasonable”.

In a statement, the ministry said the facilities of the premises had always to be kept in a condition that was befitting of its status as a national symbol that represents the sovereignty, identity, culture and image of the country.

"The information that was published by [World of Buzz] refers to an ongoing contract of seven years that will end on June 30, 2022,” it said, referring to the website that first published the allegation.

The ministry went on to detail the scope of the contract in its statement.

It said, for example, that the maintenance work encompassed 241.3 acres, three main components that fulfilled different functions, and a gross floor area of 89,525 square metres.

All maintenance work carried out is guided by the Guidelines to Government Building Scheduled Maintenance (2008 version) as set out by the Public Works Ministry, it added.

The statement was issued to address the contents of an article published in content aggregator blog World of Buzz titled "M’sians Outraged to Find That Ministry of Works is Paying RM519 MILLION to Maintain Istana Negara”.

The article in turn referred to tweets by Malaysians who reportedly screenshotted the information on the company page of an investment holding company’s website.