PUTRAJAYA, Jan 30 — Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad aims to break up what he labels as “cartels” within Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), which he believes is mostly controlled by Umno members.
Khalid said DBKL has engaged new and credible companies following a re-evaluation of its existing pool of contractors.
“We actually want to break up the cartels which entered DBKL. This is one of my visions as the Federal Territories minister, which has DBKL under my portfolio,” Khalid told a special meeting with the media today.
To support his claim, he said that for river-cleaning projects in Kuala Lumpur, DBKL allocates RM60 million annually and it was previously distributed to the same group of 30 contractors, who earned approximately RM2 million each.
He claimed that this was what had been financing Umno members for a long time.
“That’s why there’s a cartel, they control DBKL. We believe so, because the ones making noise are all Umno people,” he said when asked if the cartel that he was referring to were political cronies.
Khalid said that upon tender application by interested contractors, DBKL will vet and pick those who offer the best rates for the services needed.
Should there be more than one prospective contractor who offers the best price, the names of the companies will then be coded with a number and a ballot will be held.
