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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 24): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has come out to explain why two buildings in Washington DC, the United States, were left vacant by it after undergoing a RM14 million facelift.
In a statement today, the ministry said the two buildings cannot be occupied as their refurbishment will only be completed by mid-2016.
"While undergoing refurbishment and repair, they cannot be occupied as it contravenes the local building laws including health and safety regulations," it said.
The ministry also explained the reason why both buildings (Annex 1 and Annex 2) could not be used as education and tourism centres.
"Upon completion in 2012, the buildings were deemed unsuitable to be used for education and tourism centres due to new regulations imposed by the Government of District of Columbia. The buildings are located in a housing area and not suitable for education and tourism centres," it said.
As such, the buildings are currently being refurbished into two residential units for home-based staff in compliance with current District of Columbia's zoning laws in order to preserve the heritage values of the buildings.
Currently, the Embassy of Malaysia in Washington houses all Wisma Putra and nine other agencies officers.
The third series of the 2014 Auditor-General's Report yesterday revealed that Annex 1 and Annex 2, bought in 1979 and 1984 for RM1.45 million and RM1.05 million respectively, have been vacant since 2002. The report also said the warranty period for the buildings had expired on June 29, 2013.
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