The government does not intend to cancel Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution as it provides a clear distinction between civil and syariah courts, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

In a parliamentary reply, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said Article 121 (1A) states that the civil court has no jurisdiction to hear cases pertaining to the Syariah court jurisdiction.

"The jurisdiction for both courts have been clearly stated in the Constitution," he said, adding that there is no need to repeal Article 121 (1A).

"On Jan 20, 2006, the prime minister stressed that no amendments will be made to the article, thus the government has no plans to cancel or amend it," he said.

Nazri (BN-Padang Renggas) was responding to a query from Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor).

The opposition leader had asked the prime minister to state whether the government is prepared to repeal Article 121 (1A) which Karpal said has brought about unnecessary controversies.

Karpal also said that the article was unfair to the people.

Maintenance cost

In an unrelated development, the government has allocated RM340.78 billion for the maintenance of government buildings up to June 2007.

In a parliamentary written reply, Works Minister S Samy Vellu said that allocation for government building maintenance depends on term contracts, where the funds are disbursed only when it is needed.

"The Works Ministry has, and is, currently involved in the maintenance process of 93 federal buildings, 47 management buildings and 8,361 units of government quarters and the Putrajaya International Convention Centre," he said

"Also, the ministry has kick started corrective works, among others, on all federal quarters and official residences of the country's leaders as well as federal and state palaces," he added.

Samy Vellu (BN-Sungai Siput) explained that the ministry conducts both routine and shutdown maintenance, where contractors service and replace equipments in the buildings to ensure the smoothness of the buildings' operations.

He was replying Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh) who asked the works minister to state the list of government buildings and the annual maintenance cost.

Parliament ended its current session today and will resume on August 22.