Kepong MP, KL residents group say FT Ministry redundant as tasks overlapped with DBKL

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — Second-term Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng welcomes the removal of the Federal Territories Ministry under the coalition government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, saying it had been redundant.

Calling it the “right move”, the DAP lawmaker told news portal Free Malaysia Today that the roles of the federal territories minister and the mayor of Kuala Lumpur had overlapped in the past.

“So now that we don’t have a Federal Territories Ministry, we will speak with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim about allowing the mayor to be accountable to Kuala Lumpur’s MPs,” Lim was quoted as saying in a news report today.

In his Cabinet announcement, Anwar had merged the functions of two ministries into one, forming the Rural and Regional Development Ministry helmed by his deputy Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to manage urban and rural issues.

Lim indicated that making the KL mayor accountable to city MPs could be a better move to speed things along in the national capital.

“In Kuala Lumpur, there are only three parties — DAP, PKR and Umno.

“So, maybe, the representatives from these parties can meet with the department in charge of appointing the mayor to discuss and reach a consensus,” he was quoted as saying.

Lim pointed out that despite not being included in DAP’s election manifesto, the party had previously sought the abolition of the ministry as well as the reintroduction of local government elections.

A local residents advocacy group called Save Kuala Lumpur Coalition also told the news portal it agreed that the Federal Territories Ministry had redundant functions and should be put on hold to save costs and avoid duplication of tasks.

Its chairman M. Ali said the City Hall (DBKL) and the Federal Territories Land and Mines Office should be made publicly accountable instead.

“DBKL should be made accountable to Parliament until local government elections are implemented, and election of the mayor and councillors is in place,” he was quoted as saying.

The Federal Territories Ministry started out as a planning and development coordinator for Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.

It was abolished after the Federal Territories development division took over the ministry’s role in 1987.

The ministry was later revived in 2004 by then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with the main aim of overseeing matters in the three federal territories that had been created by then — Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya.