YOURSAY | ‘Does he not realise some can see right through him?’
Fire hazard in old wiring and water damage, Muhyiddin explains RM38.5m renovations
IndigoPuffin9170: Wow, just wow. Most of us can build several bungalows from scratch with RM38.5 million.
Give me half of that, and I will sort out your wiring, plumbing, roofing, etc, and even get furniture for you, with a few million left for my profit.
How on earth does former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin have the gall to make this statement in public? Does he not realise that there are experienced contractors, builders, and architects who could see right through his lies?
He asked for citizens to raise RM30 million for Covid-19 and he spends RM38.5 million for his official residence.
Wow, just wow.
OCT: It's unbelievable that all the previous PMs who had stayed there didn’t complain that Seri Perdana needed renovation.
The moment Muhyiddin became PM, he approved the renovation at a cost of RM38.5 million at a time when Covid-19 was raging. He approved it during the emergency so that nobody knew or questioned it.
The previous contractors for Seri Perdana must have also shortchanged the government by providing substandard materials not based on architecture specs. We don’t buy your story that Seri Perdana has deteriorated to such an extent that needed such a high cost of renovation.
Was there an open tender or closed tender? A rule of thumb is that when the renovation costs more than the actual cost of the original building, it might be more cost-effective to rebuild the building.
There is no maintenance culture in the government as can be seen by the various dilapidated government buildings. The administration needs to be transparent by showing the bill of quantities on the renovation.
It looks like the rakyat is taken for another ride by the ex-PM. Don’t be surprised when more come in the future.
PW Cheng: Muhyiddin has a penchant for making hay while the sun shines. Remember his three town halls in and around Pagoh that cost RM35 million?
We can gauge what type of person this man is. All these excuses of water damage, wiring and air conditioner problems, lighting replacement, etc, is not going to convince anyone with any common sense because of the unusually exorbitant renovation costs.
We all know what’s going on as this is a common modus operandi by Umno, and naturally, he knows how to use it to the hilt. Inflate the price, give the contract to cronies and receive kickbacks.
Almost all educated Malaysian adults know this and yet he does it openly without restraint because there is no fear of the law for reasons known to most of us.
What I cannot stomach is the hypocrisy that stinks to high heaven. This is what I had been saying when he chastised Najib Abdul Razak in the 1MDB fiasco - he was doing it for his own interest, trying to portray himself as a hero and a victim when he was kicked out by Najib.
The only thing that impressed me was that he managed to deceive and outfox Pakatan Harapan.
BobbyO: A completely new building with new wiring, plumbing, flooring and furniture would not even cost that much. It is simple as that.
Would you allow an independent auditor and builder to review the costs?
The people are fed up with contracts given to cronies at exorbitant prices, especially at this time when they are going through a really hard time.
The nation has a bad reputation for freeloaders, who use their contacts to get projects, only to let them be completed by other companies.
Every year, the auditor-general reports of hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ funds were wasted in either projects given out at exorbitant prices or monies paid out for uncompleted work.
Nothing is done to rein in these connected contractors or cronies.
FiatJustitia: Of course, old buildings need renovations. But with RM38.5 million, you might as well tear down the building and build a new one.
Renovations for RM38.5 million is simply unbelievable. Muhyiddin, shut up and give us the breakdown of the costs. I offer my services free of charge to audit every single nail.
Brightlight: Boris Johnson’s Downing Street refurbishment was a big deal in Britain when he spent reportedly US$280,000. This hardly compares to the reported US$1.75 million spent by Donald Trump or the US$1.5 million spent by Barack Obama.
RM38.5 million is about US$9.2 million.
Just look at it. The money spent in these developed countries came under scrutiny immediately, while over here, our leaders spend it like it’s their grandfather’s money.
Specialist Opening Batsman: Muhyiddin, you spent RM35.43 million on three public halls in your constituency in Pagoh. Then, another RM38.5 million for renovations at Seri Perdana. What else did you do after you entered office through the back door in March 2020?
Presumably, with a budget of RM38.5 million, the new wiring, roof, floors and all wall panels at Seri Perdana should be opulently gold-plated by now.
Deux Videt: Fire hazard? Plumbing? Almost every government facility built before 1995 is in need of renovations.
They include hospitals, health clinics, public buildings, airports, public housing projects, ports, KTM, you name it. But only one man got the money to do it.
The needs of the rakyat outweigh the needs of one horse-trader. If this is not first-rate horse manure, I do not know what is.
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