Muhyiddin's former chief private secretary defends ex-boss's move to refurbish Seri Perdana
NOR SYAMIRA LIANA NOR ASHAHA
SHAH ALAM - Former chief private secretary to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has denied statements by Prime MInister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who accused his predecessor of wasting the government's money by renovating the official residence of the Malaysian Prime Minister in Putrajaya.
Datuk Dr Marzuki Mohamad said the repair work had to be carried out because there were leakages in several main parts of the building, which damaged parts of the roofs, ceiling, walls, and floor.
"I was told that the kitchen appliances could not be used because of some wiring problems that needed to be fixed. The Seri Perdana Complex underwent renovations previously, which caused changes to its original state," he said in a Facebook post.
On Sunday, Anwar claimed that Muhyiddin had given priority to the "wrong things" when he assumed office as prime minister.
The Tambun MP named the renovations at the Seri Perdana Complex as one of them, despite the official residence allegedly still being in beautiful condition.
Marzuki added that many of the furnishings were unavailable in the residence, as requested by the former prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who wanted to remove most of the household appliances he claimed were his personal belongings.
According to him, there was an indirect impact on the inventory system, resulting in officials being unable to determine the ownership of the furniture at Seri Perdana between the government and Najib.
At the same time, Marzuki claimed that the official residence was not suitable for living after Najib's retirement.
"I was told that even Tun Mahathir never lived there. It looks like an abandoned building. It looks beautiful from the outside, but not from the inside.
"For this reason, repair and renovation works had to be carried out to allow it to be occupied and to return Seri Perdana to its original state," he said.
Marzuki added that repairing a building left on its own for a long time would naturally cost a lot more.
