by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, June 17, 1994:
Why is there silence over Cabinet, decision over the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council inquiry report into Highland Towers Tragedy?
The Highland Towers residents and the country are wondering why there is silence over the Cabinet decision over the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council inquiry report into the Highland Towers Tragedy last December 11 which killed 48 people.
Early this month Deputy Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Special Cabinet Committee on the Highland Towers Tragedy, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had said the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council inquiry report would be submitted to the Cabinet within two weeks with the recommendation that the report be made public.
This two-week period has now expired – and the Highland Towers Tragedy survivors, the Highland Towers residents and the country are anxiously awaiting the publication of the inquiry report.
Has the Cabinet decided to veto the recommendation of the Special Cabinet Committee that the inquiry reports be made public? Or could it be that the inquiry reports had not yet been submitted to the Cabinet despite the two-week deadline given by Anwar Ibrahim?
Be that as it may, either Anwar Ibrahim or the Minister for Housing and Local Government, Datuk Dr. Ting Chew Peh, should let the public know the Cabinet position on the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council inquiry report and not prolong the anguish and agony of the Highland Towers survivors and residents.
I have given notice to Parliament that one of the first questions I would be tabling when the Dewan Rakyat meets on July 4 is “to ask the Prime Minister whether the Cabinet Committee on the Highland Towers Tragedy would assist to ensure the payment of compensation to the victims or their families, as Ampang Jaya Municipal Council as the successors-in-title to Gombak District Council must accept responsibility for the issue of certificate of fitness for Highland Towers by the Gombak District Council.”