A promise: Chinatown will not be destroyed

MRT project owners have promised that except for a few government-owned buildings, much of Chinatown will remain intact.

PETALING JAYA: Except for a few government-owned buildings in Chinatown, none of the lots affected by the upcoming Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) construction there will be destroyed.

MRT project owners MRT Corporation said that neither it nor the government had any intention to destroy or acquire privately-owned buildings along Jalan Sultan; where an underground MRT tunnel will be built.

“It has never been the government’s or MRT Corp’s intention to demolish or acquire any buildings in Chinatown. As such, no buildings will be demolished and acquired in Jalan Sultan for the construction of the MRT project,” the company said.

It added that the only buildings that would be demolished were those that were government-owned, including the Klang Bus Stand, Plaza Warisan and UDA Ocean.

These buildings, the statement also said, were to make way for the construction of the future Jalan Sultan MRT station, which would be connected to the Pasar Seni LRT station.

“Therefore, the issue of destroying culture and heritage does not arise,” it said.

In August, Prasarana – the MRT’s initial project owners – told landowners in Jalan Sultan, Bukit Bintang and Imbi that their land needed to be acquired for the building of what may be Malaysia’s largest public transport infrastructure project to date.

The announcement came as a total surprise to these landowners, many of whom did not appreciate being told that their lots were to be taken away at the very last minute.

Over the past six months, politicians, NGOs and other support groups have protested against the MRT, warning that it may see many heritage buildings here demolished.

Since then, a large majority of the Jalan Sultan landowners are currently in the midst of drawing up a “mutual agreement” with MRT Corp.

A much smaller portion have decided to oppose the rail project outright, demanding that the track be realigned through Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock instead of through Jalan Sultan.

To this, the MRT Corp press statement warned that those who refused to be a part of the “mutual agreement” would see compulsory land acquisition happen to their lots.

“MRT Corp strongly urges the relevant landowners to sign the mutual agreement by the end of February 2012. This will allow MRT Corp to go to the government and request for an immediate reverse of the compulsory land acquisition proces that was initiated before MRT Corp was established,” it said.

Wholly owned by the Finance Ministry, the company said that a mutual agreement would allow the land acquisition process to be “withdrawn”.

“A mutual agreement is needed with the land owners because MRT Corp needs to secure the agreement for shoplot occupants to be relocated for six months, and for the land titles to be endorsed with a statement recognising the title beneath the land,” it said.

In a related matter, it said that MRT Corp chief executive officer Azhar Abdul Hamid was “willing” to help Chinatown landowners gazette the area into a heritage zone.