KUALA LUMPUR: The government is studying on ways to finance the purchase of 101ha (250acre) land in Kampung Baru here.
This is before the authorities go ahead with the redevelopment of the Malay enclave.
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad said the ministry was looking at various options in raising the necessary capital to buy over land plots in the village to ensure a structured development.
“At the same time, we want to maintain Kampung Baru as a Malay (reserve) area, with housing units and shoplots to be built there, among others.
“The issue here is how do we raise the funds, estimated to between RM6billion to RM10billion for land acquisition?
“The old approach was for land owners to enter into an agreement with developers, the company will then develop the land and in return, the land owners received a few housing units, for instance.
“However, this approach has resulted in patches of developments in the area.
Khalid added that a new master plan is needed, and for that to happen, the land needs to be acquired.
“According to a survey, 80 per cent of the land owners had agreed to this idea. However, we need the money before we can make an offer to them.
“Kampung Baru has three, four master plans to show how it could be developed,” he said, adding that these, however, had not been followed as the development was done in patches.
“We may look at all these master plans and combine the idea for the redevelopment project,” he told a press conference today.
One of the proposals is the Kampung Baru Detailed Development Master Plan that was launched in 2015.
“This (redevelopment issue) is my KPI (key performance index) that I must settle this term. For this year, I hope we can work on the financial side of it (redevelopment),” he said.
Khalid said the people of Kampung Baru would be more receptive to the idea as the government would ensure that the Malay land status was retained.
“It is better for the redevelopment plan to be a government’s initiative, whether DBKL (KL City Hall) or other agencies.
“We are looking at DBKL’s angle, we are looking at a few options, including a municipal bond which is quite common in European cities,” he said.
There is a total of 1,350 plots involving 5,300 landowners and heirs in the village located in the heart of the federal capital and which was established in the year 1900.
The Kampung Baru Development Corporation reportedly only managed to obtain consent from owners for 18 plots.