KUALA LUMPUR: The government saves RM2.3 million a year by dissolving the federal territories (FT) ministry and placing it under the Prime Minister’s Department, says law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said.
She added that almost all of the savings were in the form of emoluments.
“The government has not suffered from any operational problems by changing the ministry into a department as it comes under the responsibility of the prime minister,” she said in a parliamentary reply to Teresa Kok (PH-Seputeh).
The FT ministry, which was first established in 1978, has jurisdiction over matters related to Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. It was absorbed into the Prime Minister’s Department on Jan 20 under the unity government.
DAP’s Lim Lip Eng (PH-Kepong) was previously reported to have said the FT ministry was redundant because the roles of the minister and the mayor of Kuala Lumpur overlapped.