RM55mil covered walkway project too costly, says Gulam

KUALA LUMPUR: An Umno leader has questioned the RM55 million allocation for 22km of covered pedestrian walkways in Kuala Lumpur, describing the project as excessively expensive and suggesting the funds could be better spent providing housing for low-income Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) employees.

Umno Batu division chief Gulam Muszaffar said the allocation, announced by Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh, worked out to RM2.5 million per kilometre, or RM250,000 for every 100m of walkway.

He said the cost amounted to RM25,000 for every 10m, raising questions about whether the project was reasonably priced.

Gulam said he had consulted several contractor friends, many of whom felt the project was too expensive. However, he said he remained open to the possibility that the high cost was justified by the materials and specifications involved, sarcastically suggesting that the walkway’s pillars and roof might be gold-plated.

While acknowledging that covered walkways could benefit the public, he said authorities should ensure such facilities were genuinely needed and would be used.

He cited the pedestrian walkway in Taman Wahyu as an example of infrastructure that had allegedly become a white elephant, saying it was underutilised and had even been used by homeless people as a place to sleep and seek shelter.

Gulam also questioned why the RM55 million would be funded using DBKL’s own revenue instead of an allocation from the federal government.

He said the money could instead be channelled towards providing quarters or affordable housing for DBKL employees, many of whom were still unable to afford their own homes despite working for the city council.

Based on an estimated construction cost of RM180,000 per housing unit, he said RM55 million could provide more than 300 homes for DBKL staff.

Gulam said he would prefer the funds to be used to improve the welfare of lower-income DBKL employees rather than build covered pedestrian walkways.

He ended by asking the public to choose between the two priorities – covered pedestrian walkways or affordable housing for DBKL employees.