Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad has denied an allegation that he conspired with Kuala Lumpur mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan to award a river cleaning contract without a proper tender.

In a special meeting with the press yesterday evening, Khalid said that for projects with more than one prospective bidder, a draw is usually conducted to select the winner of the contract.

He said the draw is a method to break the "cartels" controlling the Kuala Lumpur City Hall in the awarding of contracts.