I was pleasantly surprised when I came across THIS ARTICLE in The Star where it was reported that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz has apologised in Dewan Rakyat over an inaccurate reply about the Parliament building relocating to Putrajaya.
In a true gentlemanly fashion, he told Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) that he took full responsibility for the mistake and did not want to blame my officers.
“The answer is inaccurate. The Cabinet has yet to make any decision on whether to shift the Parliament building to Putrajaya,”
He also said this was his first available opportunity to clarify matters and he did not want to make a ministerial statement on the matter as it would not give MPs a chance to question him, he told Fong Po Kuan (DAP - Batu Gajah). You can read about it AT THIS LINK.
Here's the chronology of events which I have picked up from here and there. Click on the dates in bold if you want to read the related article.
June 8th
In a written reply to Sim Tong Him (DAP - Kota Melaka), Nazri said the Government planned to build a new Parliament building costing RM800mil and preserving the existing one as a heritage building.
June 10th
MCA today disagreed with the government’s proposal to construct a new RM800 million Parliament building in Putrajaya, labelling it a “sheer waste of public funds”.
June 16th
DAP MP Tony Pua slammed the government for being fickle-minded over the relocation of Parliament, urging the Najib administration to allow the country’s highest legislative body to decide on the fate of its own premises. Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said the functions of the Parliament should be separate from the government administrative and not the other way around. He questioned why the Cabinet should be the one to make this decision? He argued that the Parliament is the country’s highest legislative body and the Cabinet should be answerable to Parliament, not the other way around.
June 16th
The Malaysian Insider reported that the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) may soon be the new Parliament House under a plan by the Najib administration to use the under-utilised building.
June 17th
Opposition lawmakers said today that the Parliament must decide on its relocation because the move involves the interests of the public and members of Parliament. The lawmakers also criticised the government for not informing them on its decision to move the Parliament to Putrajaya. DAP’s Kota Melaka MP, Sim Tong Him said that the decision was made without the government providing any valid reasons and that no consultations were made with the members of Parliament in this matter.
June 19th
The Government has yet to decide whether it will relocate Parliament to the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) or renovate the existing building. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the options were being studied at the moment.
June 28th
The Works Ministry today cleared the air over the heavily debated proposal to relocate Parliament, saying the move would be “temporary” only. Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor told reporters in Parliament this afternoon that the 48-year-old legislative House would merely be undergoing a facelift estimated to cost between RM120 million and RM150 million, which would take between two and two and a half years.
June 30th
Nazri apologizes.
Well, the sequence of events shows that our lawmakers are doing a great job questioning certain moves. So far, there have been changes in the decision with regards to the implementation of GST, the proposal to move the Parliament, the horrible arches in Botanical Gardens, Penang and a few other issues which slip my mind (Could readers please help me out here? Thanks!).
At the same time, there are ongoing issues which are still being debated wrt education, the proposal to scrap UPSR and PMR, the use of BM to teach Maths and Science.
The rakyat must speak up on issues and ensure that their representatives HEAR their sentiments and act on it. After all, they were elected to office to take care of our needs and must do their homework to be effective in office.
Kudos to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz for his courage to apologize where this issue is concerned. How many would have done what he did today?
However, what is troubling is another report in Malaysiakini HERE which said:
If there was a letter from his department, it means that by right, he should be the one to sign it so what does it mean then? What does it tell us about efficiency and a meticulous work ethic when in the line of duty?A proposed RM800million move is a serious matter indeed and this mistake was detected because of public outcry. If not for that, what might have happened?? That is indeed such a scary thought!
In a true gentlemanly fashion, he told Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) that he took full responsibility for the mistake and did not want to blame my officers.
“The answer is inaccurate. The Cabinet has yet to make any decision on whether to shift the Parliament building to Putrajaya,”
He also said this was his first available opportunity to clarify matters and he did not want to make a ministerial statement on the matter as it would not give MPs a chance to question him, he told Fong Po Kuan (DAP - Batu Gajah). You can read about it AT THIS LINK.
Here's the chronology of events which I have picked up from here and there. Click on the dates in bold if you want to read the related article.
June 8th
In a written reply to Sim Tong Him (DAP - Kota Melaka), Nazri said the Government planned to build a new Parliament building costing RM800mil and preserving the existing one as a heritage building.
June 10th
MCA today disagreed with the government’s proposal to construct a new RM800 million Parliament building in Putrajaya, labelling it a “sheer waste of public funds”.
June 16th
DAP MP Tony Pua slammed the government for being fickle-minded over the relocation of Parliament, urging the Najib administration to allow the country’s highest legislative body to decide on the fate of its own premises. Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said the functions of the Parliament should be separate from the government administrative and not the other way around. He questioned why the Cabinet should be the one to make this decision? He argued that the Parliament is the country’s highest legislative body and the Cabinet should be answerable to Parliament, not the other way around.
June 16th
The Malaysian Insider reported that the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) may soon be the new Parliament House under a plan by the Najib administration to use the under-utilised building.
June 17th
Opposition lawmakers said today that the Parliament must decide on its relocation because the move involves the interests of the public and members of Parliament. The lawmakers also criticised the government for not informing them on its decision to move the Parliament to Putrajaya. DAP’s Kota Melaka MP, Sim Tong Him said that the decision was made without the government providing any valid reasons and that no consultations were made with the members of Parliament in this matter.
June 19th
The Government has yet to decide whether it will relocate Parliament to the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) or renovate the existing building. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the options were being studied at the moment.
June 28th
The Works Ministry today cleared the air over the heavily debated proposal to relocate Parliament, saying the move would be “temporary” only. Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor told reporters in Parliament this afternoon that the 48-year-old legislative House would merely be undergoing a facelift estimated to cost between RM120 million and RM150 million, which would take between two and two and a half years.
June 30th
Nazri apologizes.
Well, the sequence of events shows that our lawmakers are doing a great job questioning certain moves. So far, there have been changes in the decision with regards to the implementation of GST, the proposal to move the Parliament, the horrible arches in Botanical Gardens, Penang and a few other issues which slip my mind (Could readers please help me out here? Thanks!).
At the same time, there are ongoing issues which are still being debated wrt education, the proposal to scrap UPSR and PMR, the use of BM to teach Maths and Science.
The rakyat must speak up on issues and ensure that their representatives HEAR their sentiments and act on it. After all, they were elected to office to take care of our needs and must do their homework to be effective in office.
Kudos to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz for his courage to apologize where this issue is concerned. How many would have done what he did today?
However, what is troubling is another report in Malaysiakini HERE which said:
Nazri explained that the discrepancy arose because one of his officers sent the written answer to Parliament without checking it with him. This, he added, went against his standard practice of clearing all answers to be issued out of his office.
“For certain reasons the answer was not referred to me. I take full responsibility. I don't blame my officer for this, but this is an internal issue,” said the Padang Rengas MP.
Nazri added that the officer may have issued the written answer based on a different take on the cabinet discussions surrounding the much-needed repairs to the Parliament building.
“It all depends on the interpretations of the parliament officers, and the officer in question interpreted that the decision was made, despite it being only discussed in cabinet," he said.
If there was a letter from his department, it means that by right, he should be the one to sign it so what does it mean then? What does it tell us about efficiency and a meticulous work ethic when in the line of duty?A proposed RM800million move is a serious matter indeed and this mistake was detected because of public outcry. If not for that, what might have happened?? That is indeed such a scary thought!
Anonymous Lost count how many apologies should be required from this %$##@!
Making a show on just one!
~wits0~