KUALA LUMPUR:ALL eyes are once again on Kampung Baru as the stage is set for a mega townhall session between stakeholders today, over the redevelopment of the heritage enclave in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
The excitement is palpable in the Malay heartland as, after 11 years and four Federal Territories ministers, the plan which has been moving at a snail’s pace is now seemingly being shifted into high gear.
The authorities have gone full throttle with FT Minister Khalid Samad making it his personal mission to solve the issues surrounding Kampung Baru’s redevelopment by year end.
The ministry hopes that today would be “the day” for a breakthrough with landowners, so that a consensus can finally be reached on the project.
What’s on the table would be the long overdue announcement of an offer for the 62.3ha slated up for redevelopment.
But the stakes are high.
There are a whopping 5,374 landowners who own the 846 private parcels that are earmarked for the grand overhaul.
Some have died, while many others are embroiled in decades-long small estate disputes, with a sizeable number having not even registered for land deeds.
These protracted issues have kept the Kampung Baru Development Corporation on their feet with surveys and small estates settlement “clinics” in the seven years since it was formed, making the redevelopment still very much a work in progress.
Emotions are also running high as landowners are looking to be paid RM1,000 and above per sq ft (psf) for their plots, while property consultants have said the land is worth between RM500 and RM650 psf.
The price for land fronting the main road — Jalan Raja Abdullah and Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz according to them is around RM650 psf.
The consultants also stressed that land prices can only touch RM800 psf if they are very strategically located.
However, landowners who live in the shadow of the KLCC believe that the government’s offer of RM1,300 to RM1,600 psf for the MRT project there previously means their land is worth much more.
Other experts have joined in, saying that if minimum plot amalgamation is realised, the Malay Agricultural Settlement owners could be paid double the valuation of each lot.
Kampung Baru was gazetted on Jan 12, 1900, and administrated under the Malay Agricultural Settlement.
It covers a 120ha area, is around three times the size of the land of KLCC with six integrated villages.
They are Kampung Periuk, Kampung Masjid, Kampung Atas (A and B), Kampung Hujung Pasir, Kampung Paya and Kampung Pindah.
A land area of 30,000 sq ft, or 0.28 ha would allow the project to reach the 1:10 plot ratio as set by Kuala Lumpur City Hall for commercial development.
As one lot in Kg Baru usually has about 4,000 to 5,000 sq ft (0.04ha) while a maximum lot is about 16,000 sq ft (0.37ha), one would need about four plots to fulfil the minimum requirement of 0.28ha.
However, hope floats as a survey involving around a quarter of the 5,000-odd landowners in the enclave found that 88 per cent of those surveyed were supportive of the redevelopment.
Khalid said that 88 per cent of those surveyed were supportive of the redevelopment while the other six per cent wanted redevelopment but were conditional about the plans.
Only six per cent objected to plans to redevelop the place.
Despite the good news, it was learned that there are plans to hold a protest at Dewan Perdana Felda where the townhall is due to take place.
A source close to the development authority also said that these so-called protesters had never been to any of the three engagement sessions held by the corporation in the three Saturdays leading up to the townhall.
Nevertheless, he assured that police would be on standby to ensure that nothing untoward takes place as some 2,500 landowners are expected to attend the session to exercise their democratic right in peace.
There is also talk that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad may drop by at the townhall session.
Dr Mahathir has already been booked for an event elsewhere, but a source said that the latter may spring a surprise.
It has, after all, taken almost 30 years of talk between no less than 11 landowners’ committees and developers. And all of them appeared to have fallen through.
“Two former prime ministers have tried but failed to transform Kampung Baru.
“This time they really want to transform it into a township. There is political will to get this done as soon as possible, now,” he said.
He said land acquisition was not at all on the table, due to fears of social and political backlash.
“We, however, need all landowners to be on board so that they can get the best price for the land. We can’t just have one group who say ‘yes’ while the others say ‘no’.
“The land price has also stagnated for many years because of lack of consensus. The land can’t be used so this is why the rates are as they are.”
The corporation is poised to display a draft of the enclave’s detailed development masterplan for the residents there.
The average plot ratio proposed under the draft is 1:10.
The source also said the ratio had not changed from the KL City 2020 Plan or the former plans before.
Khalid has been looking to seal the deal by having everyone on board to finalise the redevelopment in the ministry’s self-imposed deadline of June next year.
The ministry is also seeking to get titleholders to sign sales and purchase agreements by September next year.
The plan was first proposed by former Federal Territories minister Tan Sri Dr Zulhasnan Rafique in 2008 to develop the enclave as a whole.
The proposal entails a RM10 billion funding as well as the redevelopment of 33 lots belonging to the government.