Khalid: Govt to raise between RM6bil and RM10bil to kick off Kg Baru redevelopment plan

KUALA LUMPUR: The government targets to raise between RM6bil and RM10bil by the end of the year to kick off the Kampung Baru redevelopment plan.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad said they have to sort out the finances first as no plan can be executed without the money.

“The money will be used to buy-out the landowners and develop it as a whole.

"The figure is derived from an estimated cost if all the landowners settled for cash pay-outs but we are also looking at offering cash with apartments.

“We have to figure out how to fund the project. We are also looking at municipal bonds and borrowing from banks.

“Once that is sorted, we will look at the master plans. There are many master plans and revised versions,” he said at a press conference at Menara Seri Wilayah Monday (April 22).

Khalid said 80% of the landowners surveyed agreed to having their lands bought over.

“However, many are also tired of responding to surveys because they assume nothing is going to come out of it.

“But the people prefer that the government buy their land instead of private developers because the latter can change their terms once they have taken over the land.

“For example, the selling of properties to non-Malays which goes against the Malay enclave identity that is to be preserved,” he said.

It was reported that Kampung Baru Corporation chief executive officer Zulkurnain Hassan said the land to be bought over was 61.1ha out of the 89ha under the Malay Agricultural Settlement.

"The land is valued at RM1,300 to RM1,600 per sq ft as offered by the government for the MRT project.

"However, it is estimated that the value will be lower if the government chooses to buy-out the landowners, which is about RM1,000 per sq ft.

“The value is still higher compared to ‘willing seller, willing buyer’ range of RM650 per sq ft. There are also landowners that have advertised online to sell their land for RM300 per sq ft," he added.