Property owners along Jalan Sultan and Jalan Bukit Bintang are crying foul over the government's refusal to hear their proposal for the realignment of the MRT track.

Committee of Perserving Jalan Sultan and Jalan Bukit Bintang said that their proposal would provide a straighter route and would not affected any existing buildings.

NONE The committee's advisor Ong Tee Keat, who is also the Pandan MP, said the meeting with project owners MRT Co saw property owner's hope of presenting their proposals dashed.

"At the meeting, the realignment proposal was shot down, or rather if I may rephrase, it was not allowed to be presented at all.

"In fact I was told that the meeting focused primarily on compensation, the submission of the valuation report, and the like," Ong said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

The committee's proposal seeks to reroute the line below Jalan Sultan to Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Pudu.

Committee chairperson Yong Yew Wei, an engineer by profession, explained that the proposed realignment would make the line 200m longer at most.

NONE He said that committee's proposal also made the route straighter, thus providing a smoother ride.

"(With this), we won't an acquisition problem. We do not have to worry about old buildings collapsing. We won't disturb the tourism," said Yong.

No technical reports

Ong also chided the committee for failing to produce the social impact and technical feasibility reports, which showed MRT Co to be lacking in transparency.

He said the report was important because the project area involved colonial-era buildings and may not be structually safe after tunneling works.

NONE "Two months should be sufficient for any social impact report, but unfortunately we have yet to see any public display of such report," said Ong, who is a former transport minister.

On September 22, de facto Law Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz had praised the proposal as "a solid alternative" and pledged his support.

Yong laments that since the last meeting with Nazri, there has been no word from the government or MRT Co.

"Our last resort will be quite definite, that is we will gather the petitions - there are now many petitions - together with a letter from the committee will be sent to the prime minister."