KUALA LUMPUR: THE direction of the redevelopment of Kampung Baru is now up in the air, with the authorities reviewing plans for the city's last Malay enclave.
The Federal Territories Ministry has instructed Kampung Baru Development Corporation (PKB) to produce a report detailing its plans as well as feedback from landowners by June 30 on the proposed redevelopment of the area.
Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the decision on the proposed redevelopment of Kampung Baru would be made at the end of the month, after receiving the report.
"I want to know if the plan proposed by the previous administration is viable or not. It was previously reported that only 61 per cent of (Kampung Baru) landowners had agreed to the plan.
"There must be willing buyers and willing sellers. All sellers must agree in order for the transaction to take place. The matter of funds to finance the redevelopment must also be looked into," he told reporters at the launch of the "Kartunis vs Covid-19" exhibition at Rumah Kartun dan Komik at Taman Botani Perdana, here yesterday.
Annuar said if the previous plans could not be realised, the government would negotiate with the residents for an alternative.
"We will review alternatives for Kampung Baru to ensure it is developed. Even if the redevelopment plans fail to take off, we will ensure that the ownership of the area is preserved for the Malays."
The proposed redevelopment was announced by Annuar's predecessor, Khalid Abdul Samad, last year.
The plan was to redevelop Kampung Baru by acquiring plots of land from 5,359 landowners at a price of RM1,000 psf. The buyout was limited to a maximum of RM850 in cash, with the remaining RM150 to delivered by way of shares via a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that was planned to be set up for the redevelopment.
The previous administration had estimated that land acquisition would cost between RM6 billion and RM10 billion, while its gross development value could reach RM30 billion.
Meanwhile, when asked about the dissolution of the Malay Agricultural Settlement (MAS) board of Kampung Baru, Annuar said it was a legal matter and not an issue related to the ministry.
"This is a legal matter on whether or not the existence of MAS is in accordance with existing laws," he said.
On June 6, the ministry via PKB stated that the MAS Board was neither part of nor relevant to the management and development of Kampung Baru.
MAS in turn had dismissed PKB's claims as "baseless", adding that there was no provision in the Kampung Baru Development Corporation Act 2011 or the Federal Capital Act 1960 to nullify the board.
MAS had been in charge of overseeing the infrastructural development of Kampung Baru since it was established in 1900 through the Land Code Enactment 1896.
The 120-year-old Kampung Baru is administered as a Malay Agricultural Settlement and covers 120ha of the city centre.
Of the total area, 80ha, which is three times the size of the Kuala Lumpur city centre, has been earmarked for redevelopment. Of that 80ha, 62ha is privately-owned.
Redevelopment has been proposed for many decades. However, a large number of landowners — some of them unregistered — have died or are embroiled in small estate disputes, and this has muddied matters.