The Prime Ministers Department was criticised in Parliament today for approving the construction of community halls which were inappropriate for the people.

Describing it as an abuse of power, Tan Kok Wai (DAP-Cheras) said these halls were built with bad intentions and have now become Barisan Nasionals operations room.

The people do not even agree to the community halls in their areas because usually the halls are too small to hold any functions, he said during a question and answer session.

Tan told the House that community halls should be built with the people in mind and have the capacity to house huge crowds.

But the halls we have are only 20ft by 50ft. There are two rooms, one toilet and can accommodate up to 20 people only, he said.

Responding to this, Deputy Minister in the Prime Ministers Department Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar assured Tan that the government does not construct halls with bad intentions.

Meanwhile, answering Tans question on the number and allocation for community halls in each parliamentary constituency in the Federal Territory, Azlan said 37 community halls have been built in the Federal Territory alone with an allocation of RM2,294,219 at the end of last year.

We built them for use by people from all races for community functions and programmes, he said.

The deputy minister said more community halls will be built in Segambut (1), Wangsa Maju (1), Batu (1) and Titiwangsa (2) with an allocation of RM7,730.000.