The first meeting of the fifth term of the 13th Parliament, which begins this Monday, will be at the main Parliament building, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said.
She said the reason being that renovation and upgrading works on the building, carried out since 2012, were now completed.
"Overall, I am satisfied with the renovation work and preparations made," she said when met by Bernama during an inspection on the cleaning works being done at the Parliament building.
She also visited the media centre, which is now located on the left side of the assembly hall at the main Parliament building, while on the right side, is the lounge for guests and the parliamentary members. Previously, the media centre was at Block C.
The assembly hall is also more sophisticated and modern, with new chairs and tables decorated with wood carvings.
Various facilities at the Parliament building have also been repaired and improved, such as the multi-purpose hall, the roof and basement car park.
The temporary building previously used as the venue for the parliament sitting, will now be used for, among others, the Youth Parliament and the Graduates' Parliament.
Prior to this, Dewan Negara president SA Vigneswaran said repair and renovation of the Parliament Building complex, at an estimated cost of RM520 million, were implemented in phases and scheduled to be completed in 2020.
Works Minister Fadillah Yusof was reported to have said that the project was divided into three phases which involved upgrading and renovation of the multipurpose hall, renovation of the main block and building of a new administrative block.
He said the phase involving the main block, which housed the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, was completed in January this year and would be operational by March.
The coming Parliament sitting, which is for 20 days from this Monday to April 6, would be opened by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V.
After that, the Dewan Negara, or Senate, will sit for 10 days from April 17 to 27.
- Bernama
