An opposition lawmaker has written to a parliamentary committee seeking for a meeting to be called following complaints of leaking roofs and faulty wiring in the Parliament building.

The letter was sent to the House Committee chairperson Ramli Ngah Talib, who is also the Parliament Speaker on Monday by DAP's Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai.

Tan wants the committee to discuss matters concerning Parliament's leaky roofs, wiring, details of the building's renovation and upgrading, its progress and the contractor's inefficiency.

"I hope Tan Sri (Ramli's honorific title) will call a new meeting to discuss the matters which I've stated above," said Tan, who is the only opposition's representative in the seven-member committee. A copy of his letter was made available to malaysiakini .

The House Committee is tasked to deliberate and consult on issues regarding the comfort and facilities in Parliament, as well as the services enjoyed by MPs in the House.

Tan added in his letter that he had raised in a previous meeting held in June 2005 for the committee to instruct the contractor to submit itemised billing on the renovation works done on the Parliament building.

However, he said, the committee was only informed on the scope of additional works that was carried out by the contractor.

Questions over Samy's explanation

Tan's call was made in the wake of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's comment on Tuesday telling the relevant agencies to stop finger pointing and passing the buck on the mishap.

He also told Works Minister S Samy Vellu to oversee all works relating to the maintenance of public building following a series of structural problems in government buildings.

Abdullah said it was "shameful" for government agencies to resort to public quarrel over their respective responsibilities.

On May 9, at least six leaks were reported in the Parliament building after heavy rain.

Among the reasons given for the incident were lack of maintenance, the waterproofing material had worn off and the waterproofing was also installed without any protective layers.

In April 2005, just after a massive renovation on the building, the Parliament session had to be cut short after rainwater poured into the august chamber.

The series of incidents became the concern of parliamentarians as they occurred just two years after a RM90 million renovation.

According to Samy's explanation, the renovation in 2005 did not include roofing as it only covered the interior of the building because "the need did not arise at the time".

However, after the 2005 leak incident, Samy had said the contractor Syarikat Pembinaan Anggerik Sdn Bhd had to bear the RM25,000 cost for repair works.

This raised questions on Samy's explanation that the renovation contract did not cover roofing.

Syarikat Pembinaan Anggerik's director Kamaludin Mohd Noor could not be reached for comment despite several attempts by malaysiakini as a staff in his office said the former did not want to comment on the latest incident.

The Petaling Jaya-based company, which was set up in 1995, was also previously involved in the construction of the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) building.

The company was reportedly one of three contractors subsequently appointed to complete the building after a nine-year delay by the first contractor, during which time the cost of construction went up by 70 percent.