KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — City Hall has a lot of money and should spend it wisely, said Kuala Lumpur’s third mayor Tan Sri Elyas Omar.

He also said the council should justify the proposal to increase assessment rates so as not to burden the public. 

“We did not increase the rates during my time as we did not feel it was right,” said Elyas.

“City Hall has reserves and they should be spending it efficiently and cut unnecessary cost.”

Elyas said even with a tight budget, he was transparent and provided justifications to the funds spent by City Hall during his time as mayor from 1983 to 1992. The money then was spent to develop and beautify the city.

“City Hall has a bigger revenue compared to what it had 30 years ago. So, why must City Hall increase the assessment? There is no need to increase it even by 10 per cent.”

The proposed new rates see a hike of up to 300 per cent from the current rate.

Elyas said he ventured into projects with private developers to generate income for City Hall. 

This is evident through the a joint-venture project with the private sector to develop Wangsa Maju.

“The roads, drainage, sewerage, water pipelines, electric and telephones cables in the area were all done without City Hall having spent a single sen. City Hall could get private companies to sponsor public facilities — like bus stops — and in return be given advertising space to compensate for their expenses.”

Elyas said such methods have been tested and proven successful in the past and that City Hall should continue generating income through other means.

“With an allocated budget between RM500 million to RM600 million, the council was able to cover its management and development costs then. I appreciate the fact that prices of things have increased over the years but there are many other ways to obtain funds instead of placing the burden on the Rakyat,” Elyas said.