Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai said itemised expenditures were not provided and that only a bulk summary was given.
He claimed the dialogue was nothing more than a symbolic exercise to show DBKL cared about the public’s opinion.
“Many times we have requested for it to be held earlier so we will have sufficient time to voice out our respective constituencies’ issues and needs,” he said.
He also noted how in the budget draft, only around 30 per cent had been allocated for development expenditure, while Selangor had managed to allocate 52 per cent.
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah claimed there was a huge disparity between what was allocated to Barisan Nasional constituencies and that allocated to opposition-held constituencies.
BN-held Titiwangsa was allocated RM101.7 million while Izzah’s Lembah Pantai was only allocated RM32 million.
“We want to know the reason for this disparity. Are you trying to say that people in Titiwangsa are worse off than people in Lembah Pantai?” she asked.
She said it was incumbent on DBKL to showcase the percentage of accepted suggestions versus rejected ones.
“Otherwise, this is all for show. There was no transparent and detailed explanation which we would have expected at this particular opportunity.”
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said the dialogue had failed to address the concerns of residents due to time constraints.
She said NGOs and MPs should have separate dialogues with DBKL because the issues they brought up were different.
“What residents are concerned about is ensuring their areas are taken care of and that there are no flash floods in their area, as well as making sure that high density buildings are not built in their neighbourhoods,” she said.
“How can we talk about all this when there are so many people here?”
Meanwhile, Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun recommended that the budget take into account the maintenance of the Bukit Nanas forest.
He pointed out that there was no allocation for maintaining the forest which attracted a lot of foreign tourists as it was one of a kind in the world.
“The RM200,000 allocated to the Forest Research Institute to maintain this forest is not enough.”
Officiating the budget draft was KL Mayor Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz, while DBKL treasurer Mohamad Hanim presented the draft.
The budget forecasts RM2.39 billion in revenue for 2017, which is a 4.39 per cent increase compared with the RM2.29 billion in 2016.
The estimated tax collection for 2017 is RM1.04 billion, which will make up 43.6 per cent of the total revenue.