Clear to proceed in Chinatown

THE owners of 20 properties along Jalan Sultan in Kuala Lumpur, affected by the Klang Valley MRT Project, have signed Mutual Agreements (MA) with Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp).

With the signing of the MA, issues concerning land resulting from alignment of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line running beneath Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, have been resolved and the properties will not be acquired by the Government.

The 20 are part of 23 properties which will be situated above the future tunnel of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line.

They comprise 19 shophouses in Jalan Sultan and the Kuala Lumpur Gospel Hall in Jalan Hang Jebat.

The remaining three properties, whose owners did not sign the MA, were acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1960.

Of the three, two of their owners had no objections to their properties being acquired and compensated by the Government.

The third property, namely Lok Ann Hotel, is being acquired because its owners could not reach a mutual agreement with MRT Corp as they disagree with the quantum of compensation being offered to them under the MA.

MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid thanked the owners of the 20 properties for signing the MA.

“We are grateful to the owners for cooperating with MRT Corp, which has brought about this win-win solution that benefits both parties.

“I am very happy that our negotiations, which went on for two years, has worked out,” he said.

Azhar said the signing of the MA was historic, as this was the first time there was no compulsory acquisition of private properties under the Land Acquisition Act 1960 for privately-owned land above a railway tunnel.

The owners will continue to own their properties and carry on with business as before, while MRT Corp constructs the tunnel below their buildings.

Previously, all private property lying above any tunnel built for rail, road or any other public purpose was compulsorily acquired, with the owners duly compensated.

Azhar said the MA was signed in batches between May and the middle of July.

He said it was never MRT Corp’s intention for the properties to be acquired as the MRT Project did not need the properties but only a portion of the land underneath them for the MRT tunnel.

Under the MA, MRT Corp will carry out and pay for structural strengthening works on the buildings to ensure that they do not suffer any damage when tunnelling is carried out.

The works will begin in a few months time.

Occupants of several shoplots, where the strengthening works are expected to cause inconvenience, will vacate their premises for a period of between one and three months while those not affected can stay put.

He said once the buildings were strengthened, there would not be any need for occupants to vacate their properties while tunnelling was carried out in the area in July 2014.

Azhar said the shophouse owners, and Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown as a whole, stood to benefit from the Pasar Seni MRT Station.

The station will be a major interchange station with the Kelana Jaya LRT Line and will bring thousands of people, both locals and tourists, to the area.