KUALA LUMPUR – Merdeka 118 would become the tallest tower in South-East Asia and the second tallest tower in the world after the Burj Khalifa.
Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob also expressed his satisfaction that the tower could be completed despite the country was facing the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said, that was not only a great achievement in engineering, but it would also strengthen the position of Malaysia, as a modern and developed country.
“I also understand that the Merdeka 118 would become the first tower in Malaysia to achieve the triple platinum green ratings in the international sustainability accreditation and the prestigious WELL certification.
“This made Merdeka 188 the industrial benchmark in Malaysia, as an iconic tower in the future,” he said during the launch of Merdeka 118 that was also attended by several Cabinet ministers today.
The Merdeka 118 tower owned by PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Berhad (PMVSB), the subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), has an official height of 678.9 metres.
Elaborating further, Ismail Sabri said that the construction of Merdeka 118 tower would benefit Keluarga Malaysia as the precinct would become the new catalyst of economy for Kuala Lumpur, thus, it would complement other areas such as the KLCC and KL Sentral.
According to him, the development of the tower would provide income opportunities to the local community, especially those from the nearby areas such as, the Petaling Street, Kampung Attap and Pudu.
In addition, the tower would also bring forth the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia as it also enables the local community to organise programmes and activities through the Merdeka 118 Community Grant.
“The Merdeka 118 Grant application was opened from 28 June until 20 August 2021, where Keluarga Malaysia could apply to get three types of grants, namely, the Sports, Arts and Business Community grants.
“This measure can directly encourage the involvement of Keluarga Malaysia in sharing ideas to reactivate the community, build more activities for socio-economic growth.
“The development of Merdeka 118 also portrays the unity of heritage and history of Malaysia with the future evolution besides reactivating the historical areas in Kuala Lumpur.
“This could be seen through the efforts taken by PNB in preserving our national treasures such as the Merdeka Stadium and the National Stadium through restoration works,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri also said that the inspiration of naming the building as Merdeka 118 was taken from the historical areas where the building was built on; between the Merdeka and National Stadium. Meanwhile, the 188 refers to the number of floors in the building.
“The design of this solid tower symbolises our first Prime Minister, Almarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, when he raised his hands and shouted ‘merdeka’ 64 years ago,” he said. -MalaysiaGazette
