Pakatan Rakyat MPs have questioned the double standards of the Land Public Transport Commission (or Spad by its Malay acronym) in realigning the MRT tunnel near Damansara in order to bypass property belonging to a VIP.

NONE Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua ( right ) revealed at a press conference in the Parliament lobby today that the luxury mansion - which was on the path of the MRT tunnel in the original project plan - has been mysteriously “saved”.

"The original plans clearly show the tunnel passing underneath the VIP bungalow... however, for reasons best known to the authorities, the work on the original site (was) stopped (and) the tunnel portal relocated," he said.

Pua would not reveal the identity the property owner when asked.

mrt alignment 051011 vip house big He showed the media copies of what he claimed were the ‘before and after’ plans for the tunnel.

This, he claimed, happened via a variation order that was issued even though work was in progress, requiring the contractor to realign the tunnel away from the property located near Jalan Damansara and Jalan Duta.

“The government must explain its hypocrisy and double standard in dealing with the issue,” he said.

Pua pointed out that other property have been slated to be acquired by Spad, as the MRT tunnel will run below buildings on Jalan Bukit Bintang, Taman Tun Dr Ismail and heritage-rich Jalan Sultan.

Spad had previously argued that it could not deviate from its plans, a stance that has apparently been flouted in the VIP bungalow case.

"The costly and last-minute change flies in the face of Spad and Pemandu's arguments that the tunnel route has been optimised and finalised and no longer subject to change," decried Pua.

‘Political intervention’

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, who was present, said the incident bodes ill for the public perception of Spad which, as this case has painted, seems to be open to political intervention.

NONE "They bend to the political will of the powers-that-be," she said.

More importantly, Nurul ( left ) said, it showed that well-connected individuals were given special consideration by the government, which then ignores the plight of hundreds of other property owners affected by arbitrary land acquisition by Spad.

DAP's Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Loon said that if such a realignment of the MRT route was possible to "save" the VIP's house, then similar detours should be made for “more noble” reasons.

Rerouting the MRT tunnel through Jalan Tan Cheng Lok would save some 38 heritage buildings on Jalan Sultan, Fong added.