Let City Hall KL announce the budget for changing road names and the names of road sign contractors

DAP National Deputy Chairman and MP for Kepong Dr Tan Seng Giaw calls on the City Hall Kuala Lumpur (CHKL) to make public the annual allocation for having new road names and the names of the road sign contractors appointed.

The other 143 local governments in the country should do likewise. We would like to know how local governments create simple and systematic road names, convenient for the people. Or is it beneficial to only a few?

The amount involved may be hundreds of thousands of ringgit, not billions. Still, there should not be wastage of public fund.

On 29 July, 2007, Dr Tan received complaints from residents in Jinjang North, Kuala Lumpur, that each new road sign cost RM 500.

Three weeks ago, CHKL installed new road signs bearing completely new names for many of the 87 roads in Jinjang North . This has caused a furore. Five years ago, the then Datuk Bandar, Mayor, Tan Sri Kamaruzaman changed all the road signs without altering the names.

Some suspect that CHKL Road Name Committee got the views on new road names from Jinjang representative, besides Pos Malaysia and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. If so, who was the representative?

Apparently, each road sign, made of steel and aluminium, costs RM 500. The old road signs can be recycled or reused. The 87 roads in Jinjang North may cost RM 43,500. If 1000 road signs are changed in KL each year, the total cost may be RM 500,000.

CHKL states that it changes roads which only have numbers, such as in a new housing area. Simple and systematic road names help users. Let Datuk Bandar Datuk Ab. Hakim tell us the annual budget for road signs and the names of road sign contractors appointed.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw