KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — Several landowners along Jalan Sultan today demanded the MRT Corp issue a written guarantee that their land will not be acquired and their buildings will not be demolished to make way for the transportation project.
Judy Lam, whose family owns and runs Hotel Lok Ann, said they are also seeking a detailed explanation regarding the nature of construction works that will take place beneath their buildings.
“How are the owners going to compromise and agree with MRT Corp’s proposal? We need the guarantee that MRT is not interested in our land, and will not impose the Land Acquisition Act on us.
“The owners want a written guarantee that MRT Corp is not acquiring the land and there will be no demolition of the buildings,” she told The Malaysian Insider.
Yesterday, MRT Corp chief executive Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said that of the 23 property owners affected by the tunnelling works, only three refused to enter negotiations.
He also said MRT Corp had arranged with the government to waive compulsory acquisition notices issued to several premises in the area, provided that the owners signed a mutual agreement with the corporation.
Today, Lam said the remaining landowners want a written guarantee before they sign the mutual agreement. She added that she has not seen the contents of the mutual agreement as well.
“As owners, what we are very worried about is land acquisition. If they can remove that fear in us then we can talk about a mutual agreement, because [there is] no point [in signing] if we are going to lose it all,” Lam said.
She said an alternative to the written guarantee would be to have a public consultation.
“We need something to assure us to sign this mutual agreement,” she said.
Azhar is under pressure to resolve ongoing land acquisition issues, which he has warned may delay the completion of the MRT by up to six months.
The dispute began soon after landowners in Chinatown, Imbi and Bukit Bintang were informed in mid-2011 that the government would acquire all lots lying above the MRT tunnel as, under the law, owners’ rights extend to the centre of the earth.
Unhappy landowners have mounted a high-profile campaign marked by numerous protests, signature drives and accusations that Putrajaya was conducting a “land grab” in order to defray project costs.
The RM40 billion MRT, meant to ease traffic congestion in the Klang Valley, is Malaysia’s most expensive infrastructure project to date.
Construction of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) line of the MRT will begin in the second or third quarter of next year and is scheduled to be completed by end-2016, with services commencing in January 2017.
The SBK line will cover a distance of 51km, of which 9.5km — including seven of the 31 stations — will be underground.
