BUKIT JALIL, April 18 — The Pakatan Harapan government was not simply be rebranding programmes from the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration, Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad insisted today.

The Shah Alam MP said these were also improved or overhauled, citing as an example the changes introduced before renaming the Federal Territories Affordable Housing Project (Rumawip) to the Residensi Wilayah affordable housing project.

“For example, the floor area is changed from 800-sq ft to 900-sq ft, the terms of the QLASSIC assessment requirement, as well as the quality control in construction.

“This is not just a change in name but there are differences in terms of how it is executed and such,” Khalid told a press conference after the handover event of an apartment unit to national athlete Mohd Syarul Azman Mahen Abdullah here today.

Khalid was responding to BN’s allegations that the new administration was simply recycling its previous measures, the latest being the rebranding of National Permata Programme to “Genius”.

Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had on Twitter yesterday listed down the rebranding of government programmes and initiatives as “PH achievements”.

Some of the rebrandings listed include Klinik 1M to Klinik Komuniti, Automated Enforcement System (AES) to Automated Awareness Safety System (AwAS), Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to The Land Public Transport Agency (APAD), and 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) to Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH).

Meanwhile, Khalid said he was unaware over the suggestion to change Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Sepang International Airport (SIA), following a letter shared on social media that stated the acknowledgement of the proposed name change by the Selangor executive council meeting, last October.

However, he said that the move to change the name of places were often requested by the public and not the government leaders, citing Kampung Kerinchi as an example, which was reverted from Bangsar South in January.

“Many of this name change was urged by the people and not the leaders, as what we saw happened to Kampung Kerinchi.

“This didn’t take place because Fahmi Fadzil is of Kerinchi descent but because the locals there find that it is a more suited name and that it is important to remember the history of KL,” said Khalid, referring to the Lembah Pantai MP, who had worked towards bringing back the Kampung Kerinchi name after the last general election.