AG Report: Foreign Ministry spent RM14.17m to renovate empty buildings in US

PETALING JAYA: The Foreign Ministry spent RM14.17 million to renovate two empty buildings meant for Malaysian representatives in Washington DC, the Auditor General (AG) Report 2014 series 3 found.
According to the Report, the building is still unoccupied and the Foreign Ministry has to pay between US$2,000 (RM8,620) and US$3,000 a month in upkeep.
"The renovations started in 2010 and were completed in 2012 but it is still unoccupied and left empty.
"The Malaysian Embassy in the US is still bearing utility and cleaning costs amounting to between US$2,000 and US$3,000," the Report said.
The two buildings are the Annex Building 1 and Annex Building 2 attached to the Chancery Building in Washington DC, which houses the Malaysian Embassy offices.
They were purchased in 1979 and 1984 at RM1.45 million and RM1.05 mililon respectively but have been left empty since 2002 when the Malaysian Embassy moved to the Chancery Building.
The Foreign Ministry replied that the buildings need to be maintained to ensure a positive image of the Malaysian Embassy and efforts to turn them into office buildings failed due to unsuitable location.
However, the office building is currently being converted into Malaysian Embassy quarters by contractor Insight Engineering Incorporated after it won a tender on the project.