Siti Kasim Slams Spendthrift Pmx For Kota Madani Legacy Dream At The Expense Of Bleeding Nation

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SITI Kasim has joined a chorus of critics that hit out at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for ordering “full speed ahead” on his self-inspired Kota Madani a.k.a. Madani City project.
PMX had on Friday (Oct 17) during the Putrajaya Holding Bhd’s 30th anniversary celebrations called for the construction of Madani City to be expedited, urging the latter who is the master developer of the administrative capital to accord the project its full attention.

“What I can’t accept is his (PMX) insistence that if the project takes too long, its construction has to be completed quick,” ranted the human rights activist and lawyer in her latest YouTube video from Volendam in the Netherlands where she is attending a three-month special programme for human rights defenders.
“The problem with our leaders is each one of them wants to leave a legacy under their so-called legacy administration … It makes sense for Tun Dr Mahathir to create Putrajaya as Malaysia had no administrative capital back then.
“But now PMX also wants to leave behind Kota Madani as his legacy and he wants it to be done quickly as if he won’t be around soon.”

Envisaged to be a thriving pedestrianised smart city roughly the size of 57 football fields equipped with various public amenities and green spaces for a population of 35,000, the 41-hectare RM4 bil Kota Madani is a megaproject currently undertaken by the Malaysian government and Perbadanan Putrajaya.
Situated along Lebuh Wadi Ehsan and Persiaran Selatan in Presint 19 Putrajaya, the Kota Madani spans about 0.8% of Putrajaya’s total land area is slated for completion in 2032.
TM-I wants strong oversight mechanisms
While it is fine in wanting to leave a legacy for himself, Siti Kasim ridiculed the gargantuan cost involved and prospects of the project contributing to a property sector glut.
“For heaven’s sake, we already have so many developments in Putrajaya and Federal capital Kuala Lumpur which are unoccupied because people can’t afford to buy,” fumed the Orang Asli advocate.
“You should first and foremost prioritise the people’s development, ie the RM4 bil can be better channelled to build schools, hospitals or raise the salaries of the doctors, nurses, the police or the uniformed civil servants to stem their need to take bribes or indulge in corrupt practices.
“But sadly, our leaders tend to only address their own ego without concern of where the country is heading or what’s happening around them by forging ahead with their legacy dream of when I die, people will remember that Kota Madani is Anwar Ibrahim.”
The fiery Madani government critic added: “He should instead ponder on how to improve the people’s income, control spiralling cost of living or find ways to help poverty-stricken rural folks, especially Orang Asli.
“Let me ask you what is the importance of Kota Madani? It’s not important at all … what’s important is to help the struggling society amid the national debt which has spiralled into the trillions.”
Siti Kasim aside, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) is against large-scale public projects like Kota Madani proceeding – let alone be expedited – without strong oversight mechanisms in place.
On this note, TI-M president Raymon Ram urged the Madani government to implement integrity pacts and appoint independent expert monitors (IEMs) to ensure accountability and curb potential corruption risks.
“The scale and complexity of Kota Madani demand that transparency be embedded at every stage, not applied after the fact,” he pointed in a statement yesterday (Oct 19).

He noted that while the Government Procurement Act (GPA) 2025 introduced welcome reforms such as uniform procurement rules, conflict-of-interest disclosures and criminal penalties for bid manipulation, it still lacked provisions for external monitoring. –  Focus Malaysia

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