KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — There are no funds or developers for Kampung Baru's purported redevelopment that sparked controversy last year, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said.
The Federal Territories minister said these were among some of the concerns not revealed earlier to the landowners.
“The problem is, who is actually going to develop Kampung Baru? Because until today, there is no allocation or funding to acquire all land plots (agreed sellers), almost RM7 billion is needed.
“For now, there is no decision on this, because many things need to be laid out in detail and I need to listen to more feedback,” he said in a Facebook Live session yesterday.
In January, former Federal Territories minister Khalid Abdul Samad said Kampong Bharu Development Corporation (KBDC) had met landlords and the community to discuss many of the area’s ongoing issues.
Khalid also said that KBDC had already met 50 per cent of the 5,374 landowners in Kampung Baru, of these, he said, 97 per cent had indicated that they are ready to sell their lots to make way for the Kampung Baru Development Plan, which had yet to be finalised.
However, Annuar has contradicted this statement, saying only 60 per cent had agreed to sell their lots.
“About 60 per cent of landowners and heirs have agreed (to sell) while 40 per cent don't agree. If this situation remains, that is something we need to address as this is not a small number,” he added.
In light of this, Annuar said he has set up a special committee made up of professionals who are experts in planning, law, building and other related areas.
“They will look into these areas where there are several problems which were not shared with the public before,” he said.
He added that as Kampung Baru has inherited many problems, some of which date back 40 years, something needs to be done to ensure that all landowners will be able to enjoy fair development in Kuala Lumpur.
As previously reported, the former Pakatan Harapan (PH) government had upgraded the previous offer of RM850psf for purchasing land in Kampung Baru to RM1,000psf.
It also announced that RM150psf of the purchase price would be paid in the form of stakes in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that will facilitate redevelopment activities.
Last October, Khalid also reportedly said that the latest offer was “the government’s final and best offer”, adding that landowners who opt to buy real estate in the new development project would also get a 15 per cent discount.
In the offer laid out for landowners, they would also get shares in the SPV of the development project.
This means they will continue to have ownership rights over the land and have a say in its future development.
However, no further details were listed for this offer.
