Jalan Sultan group asks government to officially stop MRT land acquisition
KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — The Committee to Preserve Jalan Sultan and Jalan Bukit Bintang (PJSJBB) today urged the government to withdraw the controversial compulsory acquisition process for the MRT project in the city’s Chinatown area.
The committee’s co-chairman, Tan Yew Sing, said: “MRT Corp repeatedly announced they will not acquire land in Jalan Sultan, but to date the government has not gazetted the cancellation of the land acquisition.
“It is only a verbal promise, it is not legally binding.”
He urged the government to gazette it to show the sincerity of the prime minister and MRT Corp.
Last month, the prime minister had told Jalan Sultan landowners that the previous land acquisition notice would be rescinded to pave way for a mutual agreement, saying the notice “will be withdrawn in a matter of time.”
MRT Corp yesterday repeated its assurance that they will not “demolish or acquire” any private buildings in Jalan Sultan.
Tan’s co-chair Stanley Yong described MRT Corp’s insistence that landowners sign a mutual agreement (MA) to stop the land acquisition process as a “threat”, saying that the landowners have unequal “bargaining power” in negotiations.
MRT Corp has been attempting to strike mutual agreements with the Jalan Sultan lot owners under which the group would continue to hold rights to their property provided they agree to vacate the area for six months to facilitate tunnelling work for the project.
“The withdrawal of the compulsory acquisition should be unconditional. If there are conditions attached to the MA, it is undemocratic,” said Yong.
He had in February pointed out that the mutual agreement was “no different from acquisition” as owners will only be allowed to keep their properties if MRT Corp certifies them as being safe for occupancy.
To date, 16 have signed a Point of Agreement with MRT Corp (which will lead to the MA), while two have agreed to the acquisition of their property, according to MRT Corp.
The remaining three landowners — Lok Ann Hotel, Yan Keng Benevolent Dramatic Association, Kuala Lumpur Gospel Hall — are adamant that they will not sign any agreements with MRT Corp.
Lok Ann Hotel’s Tan Seong Chan said: “We, the three landowners, are firm in our decision to not sign a mutual agreement with MRT Corp. We don’t want their money.”
The PJSJBB has sent a letter to the Ministry of Culture to seek its stand on the demolition of the three government-owned buildings in Jalan Sultan, which the committee claims are “historic buildings”.
MRT Corp yesterday said that only the three buildings — the Klang Bus Stand, Plaza Warisan and UO Superstore — will be demolished to make way for the MRT station.
The heritage conservation group repeated its demands for a public hearing involving the government, MRT Corp and the public, saying that the project does not only impact the 21 lot owners.
Confucian Private Secondary School has joined the group to voice its concerns over the six schools in the Jalan Sultan area being possibly affected by the MRT project.
The dispute over land acquisition began soon after landowners in Chinatown, Imbi and Bukit Bintang were informed in mid-2011 that the government would acquire lots above the KVMRT tunnel as owners’ rights extend to the centre of the earth under the law.
Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chief executive Mohd Nur Kamal has said landowners could then apply for stratum titles but added there was no guarantee Putrajaya would re-alienate the surface land back to them.
Critics have questioned the need for compulsory acquisition of both surface and underground land as the National Land Code 1965 was amended in 1990 to allow underground land to be acquired without affecting surface rights.
Unhappy landowners have mounted a high-profile campaign marked by many protests, signature drives and claims that Putrajaya was conducting a “land grab” in order to defray project costs.
The RM50 billion MRT, meant to ease traffic congestion in the Klang Valley, is Malaysia’s most expensive infrastructure project to date.