Land acquisition for Kg Baru project must continue, says group

 

Kampong Bharu Development Corporation said the Sungai Baru redevelopment project was gazetted under the Land Acquisition Act last year.

KUALA LUMPUR: The land acquisition for the Kampung Sungai Baru redevelopment project in Kampung Baru, here, must continue because it has met the legal requirements under the Land Acquisition Act (APT) 1960 although some owners are against it, says Kampong Bharu Development Corporation (PKB).

It said in a statement today that if the land acquisition process was discontinued, the government must be prepared to bear all the losses incurred by the developer and the owners involved.

According to the statement, the losses included the RM50 million land acquisition deposit paid to the director-general of lands and mines (JKPTG), RM30 million for providing transit and rental houses to residents until replacement houses are completed, relocation costs for residents returning to their original homes as well as the cost of repairing homes that had been abandoned for six years.

PKB said based on APT 1960, no percentage of landowner consent was required before any land acquisition is implemented.

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“However, in the Kampung Baru redevelopment programme, the ministry stipulated that redevelopment can only be considered if the developer obtained a threshold value of at least 50% of the property owners’ consent to safeguard the interests and welfare of the residents involved,” it said.

According to PKB, the land acquisition for the Sungai Baru redevelopment project was gazetted under Section 8 of APT 1960 on June 21 last year, involving 37 terrace house lots, 72 flat units and one Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) substation lot.

“To date, 291 lots (27 terrace lots and 264 flats), representing 88.72%, have agreed to the redevelopment project.

“At the same time, the developer also continued to hold engagement sessions with the 37 terrace house lot owners but have failed to get their cooperation,” it said.

Earlier, former federal territories minister Khalid Abdul Samad was reported to have set up a committee comprising lawyers to challenge the gazette on the acquisition of residents’ land in Kampung Sungai Baru.

Meanwhile, Kampung Sungai Baru property owners association chairman Zulfakar Wahid requested that the second hearing on the land acquisition, which had been postponed since December last year, be continued so that the residents could return to the village soon as they have been waiting for more than five years.

He said it was unfair to “entertain” the voice of the minority, who represented only 11%, while the other 89% who have given their approvals were required to wait longer to move into new houses.

“Those who have agreed have been living in transit houses (at the Kerinchi Residence) for more than five years. It is unfair for us to wait any longer just because the 37 units do not agree,” he said.

Meanwhile, developer Ritzy Gloss Sdn Bhd director Abdul Hadi Ahmad denied allegations that the compensation offer was not competitive and that the owners were not given a chance to negotiate.

“There is no issue of shortchanging the owners. In fact, through land acquisition, they would only get 5%, but the developer was generous enough to offer what they agreed on,” he said, adding that all procedures were in accordance with the law. - FMT