Khalid Samad explains the need for FT Ministry

PUTRAJAYA: Newly minted Federal Territories (Wilayah) Minister Khalid Samad (pix) said that there is a need for the ministry, as elected MP's would be under City Hall (DBKL) and it is not right to put elected officials under local authorities.
Speaking at his first address as the minister, Khalid was addressing the claim that Seputeh MP Teresa Kok made recently that the ministry should be done away with.
"Maybe Teresa was expressing her disappointment at one time where the previous government did not give members of Parliament in the opposition any room which did not fulfill the needs of the rakyat because the elected representatives who were a part of the opposition were not involved in the decision-making process," he said today at the ministry here.
He said that the Federal Territory currently functions as a state on its own and if there is no ministry, then MP's would not be able to function.
"Currently, I find that wilayah is a state on its own, if you don't have the ministry, then I do not see how all the MP's in their individual capacity can work and function.
"Unless you want all the MP's under DBKL, which is completely not right then you're putting elected representatives under the leadership of (the) local authority which should be below elected representatives," he said.
He said that under him the structure and planning of the ministry will be better realised.
"She made the statement on her reality then as an MP under the previous government but hopefully we will reshape so the ministry becomes more relevant and more effective," he said.
Kok called for the ministry to be done away with after abuse of power from the two previous ministers under the Barisan Nasional led government.
She said that this would cut through red tape and overlapping functions between the ministry and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL).
Meanwhile, Khalid also said that they will investigate and cooperate with the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission over the sale of 64 parcels of land by DBKL under the purview of the former Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor from 2013 to 2018.
He said an in-depth study will be done to tackle this issue.
He also said that he will work towards gazetting the KL City plan 2020.