The Finance Ministry will be implementing new operational hours at the Urban Transformation Centres (UTCs) starting Jan 22 as a measure to save public expenditure.

Three UTCs, namely Shah Alam, Keramat and Seremban will operate from 1pm to 10pm (Monday-Thursday) and 2.45 pm to 8 pm on Fridays.

On Saturdays and Sundays, the three UTCs will operate from 8am to 5pm, the Finance Ministry said in a statement today.

The new operational hours for four other UTCs - Alor Setar, Johor Bahru, Kota Bharu and Kuala Terengganu - are from 1pm to 10pm (Sunday to Thursday) and 8am to 5pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

For the other 15 UTCs nationwide, the operational hours are from 8am to 5pm daily.

The Finance Ministry said the new operational hours had been made upon requests from the public for UTC operations in certain locations to stay open until 10pm.

“The ministry has reviewed the suitability of the UTCs concerned to implement the new operational hours and found that the operations of seven UTCs located within shopping malls could be extended," he said.

He said these UTCs would open seven days a week except for public holidays to facilitate public access to government services.

“The operational hours of the UTCs will be reviewed from time to time to ensure that people's requests are attended to, while government spending is made efficiently without wasting time and energy," he said.

- Bernama