This follows a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report that the management of YWP was exposed to conflicts of interest as the federal territories minister and the Kuala Lumpur mayor were the foundation’s chairman and trustees board member respectively.

In justifying the call for YWP’s abolishment, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh said the foundation’s main role of dealing with the people’s welfare could be carried out by Yayasan Kebajikan Negara (YKN), which comes under the women, family and community development ministry.

Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng said DBKL could also set up a separate department directly under its purview to handle matters relating to welfare, while Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil said YWP could be turned into a statutory body.

“If the ministry does not intend to shut down YWP, another option is to convert it into a statutory body which can be audited by the National Audit Department,” Fahmi said at a press conference today.

YWP is a company registered under the Companies Act 1965 and is not monitored by any authorities, including the National Audit Department.

The PAC yesterday revealed that 97 sale transactions of DBKL land were carried out without referring to any SOPs since 2011, adding that the process was too lax and was exposed to abuse of power.

PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh had proposed that the sale and disposal of DBKL land should be conducted transparently based on a comprehensive set of SOPs.

Yeoh urged the federal territories ministry to immediately halt all DBKL land transactions involving YWP for now and to study the recommendations made by the PAC.

“The PAC is bipartisan, as MPs from both sides study all these issues and make recommendations. Since it’s a bipartisan effort, there’s no way for the federal territories minister and Cabinet to dismiss this as a political document,” she said.

She also said this was a vindication of sorts for Segambut residents fighting to preserve Taman Rimba Kiara’s status as a park, as the PAC report confirmed what they had been saying all this while.

Fahmi called for a response from Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa in Parliament on the PAC report, adding this was a good reason for the minister to meet with opposition MPs.

“This is a good reason for us to sit down together. We were all chosen by Kuala Lumpur voters, so we have the locus standi to give proposals and advice,” he said.