DESCENDANTS of Kampung Railway’s pioneer settlers can finally move into their long-awaited homes, upon completion of a low-cost housing project in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur.
They have been offered units at a subsidised cost of RM42,000 at the newly-built Residensi Kecapi at Jalan 2/48A.
The former Kampung Railway residents were relocated to people’s housing projects or rented homes nearby after being forced to move out to accommodate a redevelopment project more than 10 years ago.
Kumaran Kanapathy, 35, said he would be moving in with his father from their rented place in Taman Dato’ Senu.
“I was born in and grew up in Kampung Railway. It was like living in a large family with the other residents so close in a village-like setting.
“We had to move away during the relocation exercise and even lost touch with some of the others.
“Everyone has been waiting a long time for this project to be completed,” he said.
Kumaran added that his father, Kanapathy Vellaian, looked forward to seeing the other former residents again.
They, along with other residents, attended a launch of the completed Residensi Kecapi, which was launched by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
The project is a collaboration between Kuala Lumpur City Hall and Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (SRSB), a subsidiary of YTL Land and Development Bhd.
The original residents of the village were former employees of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd and many of them now are their descendants.
During a press conference, Dr Zaliha said 175 of 250 units at Residensi Kecapi had been allocated for former Kampung Railway residents.
“So far, 27 of them have agreed to move in,” she said.
“We are still open for the other residents to sign the agreement.
“There were many challenges in the execution of this project, including the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was finally completed.”
Dr Zaliha added that the actual market value of the flats was RM200,000 but they were offered at RM42,000 each, with the subsidy fully absorbed by SRSB.
Each 650sq ft-sized flat comes with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The project also has a community hall, parking and surau facilities.
The name “Kecapi” is another term for buah sentul, the fruit after which the area is named.
During the event, Dr Zaliha also launched Bintang Cemerlang 2.0, an education enrichment programme by SRSB, which aimed to support public housing communities by benefitting 23 primary schools in the area.
Building on the original initiative launched in 2008, the updated programme promotes holistic learning through academic lessons, creativity, physical well-being and teacher training to strengthen student support.
Also present during the launch were SRSB executive director Datuk Hamidah Maktar and YTL Construction executive director Yeoh Keong Yuan.
