KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has decided to cancel a skyscraper project estimated to cost RM500 million and will instead focus on affordable housing.

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz told local daily StarMetro that Putrajaya could only choose between affordable housing or demolishing the 12-storey-high Menara DBKL 2 and building a new multi-tower building at the same site.

“We are reviewing all our commitments for 2016. There are many projects planned for next year, and we decided that, based on the current economic situation, we really have to choose either to spend a lot of money on Menara DBKL 2 or to focus on affordable housing,” he was quoted as saying.

“After reviewing everything, the government decided that we should focus on more affordable housing projects,” Mohd Amin added.

The government has already pinpointed land in Segambut for affordable houses for the middle-income group, where DBKL will impose a monthly rental of RM500, akin to the People’s Housing Schemes housing where monthly rental is RM124, the mayor said.

DBKL has three buildings for its offices, with Menara DBKL 1 and 2 located at Jalan Raja Laut, while Menara DBKL 3 or Menara Wawasan DBKL is at nearby Jalan Raja Abdullah in the city centre.

The cancelled project was announced by Mohd Amin Nordin’s predecessor Tan Sri Ahmad Phesal Taib last year, with the proposed building to be designed by local architectural firm Hijjas Kasturi Associates.

The plan was to increase DBKL’s office space through the new building, which was expected to have two floors of retail area and four tower blocks — with the highest tower having 57 floors.

Ahmad Phesal had reportedly said that the new building would be able to accommodate all of DBKL’s departments that are currently located in Menara DBKL 3, while the latter building was to be rented out due to its location on prime land in the city.

But DBKL’s proposed skyscraper project had attracted controversy, as it had spent public funds estimated to run into a seven-figure bill just a few months earlier to renovate and upgrade Menara DBKL 2, including its lifts and toilets.