Pakatan Rakyat (PR) announced its manifesto today aimed defending its parliamentary seats in Kuala Lumpur following the launch of the coalition's 100-day reform plans last month.
In the 2008 general election, PR captured all 10 parliamentary seats in the federal territory.
The manifesto is seen as PR’s strategy in countering Barisan Nasional’s Greater KL/Klang Valley National Key Economic Area (NKEA) plan.
The manifesto will concentrate on the economic disparities among the urban population and the increased cost of living.
PR lawmakers said salaries had only risen by 4.7 per cent while fresh graduates in KL have an average starting salary of only RM1,600.
They also added that the price of a home has increased to an average of RM500,000 which has led to an increase in the urban poor population.
The Greater KL region is an integral part of the Najib administration’s Economic Transformation Programme and aims to elevate KL into one of the top 20 cities in the world in terms of liveability and economic activity.
These include attracting 100 of the world’s most dynamic firms, a high-speed rail link to Singapore, a new MRT system as well as the rehabilitation of the polluted Klang and Gombak rivers.
The members of Parliament promised instant reforms in KL within the first 100 days of them taking over Putrajaya.
Among the reforms are:
1. Undertake a bold new initiative to introduce and renew distressed public housing properties which will transform the lives of low-income residents and build vital new communities where diverse households can thrive.
2. Adopt a transit proposal that will reintegrate public transportation, and at the same time rebuild our public infrastructures such as expanding roads and car parks to create a robust social and business environment.
3. Implement an extensive CCTV network which will be effective, sustainable and integrated with the respective emergency and law enforcement services, as well as create an auxiliary police force to combat real rising crime rates.
4. Establish a committee to study review and propose meaningful measures that will enable the return of local government elections in KL.
5. Study and enact specific legislation that will protect the environment in Kuala Lumpur, particularly related to green lungs as well as implement the concept of the “green city index.”
PKR Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar (picture) agreed that the manifesto may be similar to BN’s Greater KL plan but argued that the electorate can differentiate between the two based on PR’s track record in implementing policies.
“What is important is our word and the fact that we have translated some of the initiatives at the state level.
“For me it is important for us to communicate how the government has failed in terms of implementation so I am not worried about differentiating the two plans,” she said.
She said BN is guilty of not following its own Kuala Lumpur City 2020 draft plan which has led to “schizophrenic” planning of the city.
“An example is the KL financial district, do you see it anywhere in the KL draft plan. How can you come with such a plan without proper study?” she said.
DAP Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai pointed that the difference between the two policies is that PR’s is for the poor while BN’s belongs to its cronies.
He said the public does not want a greater KL but a city where the standards and costs of living are of a high standard.
Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Datuk Raja Zainal Abidin recently said that the number of poor and vulnerable people in the capital had been reduced by at least 50 per cent from a year ago.
However, a study conducted by the Human Resource Ministry in 2009 revealed that almost 34 per cent of about 1.3 million workers surveyed earned less than RM700 a month — below the poverty line of RM720 per month.
