'Mega-tower will add to 15mil sq ft property glut'

Selangor state assembly backbenchers’ whip Azmin Ali (below) today took pot shots at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s Warisan Merdeka mega-tower project, calling it a prime example of the BN’s inability to bring any benefit to the rakyat.

Azmin said he found little to justify the proposed RM5 billion 100-storey skyscraper as the country’s economy is still just recovering from the recent global economic meltdown.

He also pointed out that there is already an excess of office space in Kuala Lumpur.

“It is projected that the city will soon have some 15 million square feet of empty office space. With the tower coming up, it will only worsen the glut,” he said when debating the state’s 2011 budget.

Azmin said the project just one of several examples of how Najib’s 2011 Budget fails to offer anything positive for Malaysians.
 
“Let us look at the abolition of import duties for certain goods. Who actually wears branded underwear?... this shows that the principles of Najib’s budget does not benefit the people,” he added.

The Warisan Merdeka project was announced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak when tabling the Budget 2011 last month and would be developed beside the Merdeka Stadium and Stadium Negara within a 10-year period.

The announcement sparked fierce opposition from critics, who argue that the project was yet another glaring example of the federal government's spendthrift ways despite a burgeoning budget deficit.

Others argue that the last thing the city needs is another mega building that would aggravate the area’s gridlock traffic.

The project has also spurred an anti-tower Facebook page that today is reaching nearly a quarter of a million fans.