MRT project: Chinatown traders slam SPAD for broken promise

By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 01, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — Jalan Sultan traders, who risk losing property to the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT), have slammed the public transport regulator for going back on its promise to leave their buildings intact.

Spokesman Judy Tan said the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) should not have reneged on its promise to allow landowners to return to their buildings once construction of the planned station and tunnel under Jalan Sultan is finished.

“From what I understand, SPAD has no right to imply that the affected owners in Chinatown will stand to lose their properties,” she told The Malaysian Insider via e-mail.

“This should be said directly to our Jalan Petaling/Jalan Sultan committee at the recent closed-door dialogue with SPAD and not 24 hours later at another unrelated event.”

SPAD had reportedly told traders, whose land would be acquired, they could hold on to their property at a closed-door meeting on August 23 brokered by MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

The commission had earlier insisted it would have to demolish buildings within the corridor of the station and tunnel prior to construction to ensure public safety given their age and uncertain soil conditions.

“The government will proceed with acquisition but also strengthen the buildings that are affected for safety of the household,” Dr Chua had told reporters after the meeting, calling it a win-win situation.

But SPAD chief executive Mohd Nur Ismail Kamal told The Malaysian Insider the next day there was “no guarantee” the 31 Jalan Sultan landowners affected by the acquisition there will be able to return to their property, while stressing that the regulator was still working on a solution.

Tan further warned in her e-mail that if acquisition and demolition were carried out in the historic Chinatown enclave as originally planned, “no Malaysian is safe”.

“We are just one of the unfortunate ones. If this acquisition goes through, no Malaysian is safe. If the government can destroy 100-plus years of heritage and history, what would stop them from acquiring more?” she asked.

She also criticised the government for its haphazard planning, pointing out that the Jalan Sultan traders had only been informed of the land acquisition some two weeks ago.

“Coincidentally, both victims in Chinatown and [Bukit Bintang] also experienced short notices from the authorities. Where are we going to go in such a short time?” she lamented.

“Even to relocate our business takes time, not to mention we have mouths to feed. Is there any truth to our PM’s slogan ‘rakyat didahulukan’?”

Outgoing KVMRT project owner Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB) said last Monday that 20 lots in Bukit Bintang, the capital’s main shopping district, will be acquired to make way for tunnelling work and an underground station.

Disgruntled owners have accused the government of robbing their prime land in the Golden Triangle.

SPNB project development director Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff, however, has said that the government could not develop the land without acquiring it first due to safety concerns over the tunnel.