The Mass Rail Transit (MRT) project is necessary for the convenience of the people, but the historical value of Jalan Sultan which forms part of the project route must be protected, said the chief executive officer of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) Tang Ah Chai.

He said such development was necessary for a busy city and the construction of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT project was the best move in overcoming the traffic congestion.

"Urbanisation in large cities such as Kuala Lumpur certainly cannot be avoided, but this should not be at the expense of national heritage," he said in Kuala Lumpur today.

malaysiakini acnmc conference 021010 tang ah chai Tang ( right ) hoped that the MRT project could change its route that had to pass through Jalan Sultan and suggested that the route be changed to Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock heading to Plaza Rakyat.

"This is among the suggestions that we have made in our memorandum in November as an alternative route for the MRT project so that it would not affect the buildings along Jalan Sultan.

"The use of Jalan Sultan for the MRT project should have obtained the agreement of the local residents, and the heritage buildings along Jalan Sultan should be protected," he said.

In November last year, the KLSCAH had urged the government to change the route of the MRT project which had been planned to pass through Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Bukit Bintang by handing over a memorandum to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz.

KLSCAH secretary-general, Yong Yew Wei said the construction of the MRT project at the location would affect business in the area as well as the heritage buildings there.

A German tourist, Catriena Varia, 29, said although she did not know about the MRT project that would affect Jalan Sultan, she hoped the project construction would not affect the historical buildings there.

A local youth, Raymond Ng, 20, supported the government's proposal to build the MRT in the city but hoped that the historical sites would be maintained.

"Malaysians should appreciate the historical heritage buildings as they were becoming extinct and being destroyed by development.

"The MRT route actually can be changed, but if national heritage is continuously destroyed to bring development, then the new generation like us would not be able to appreciate the beauty of these buildings and probably in future, study history only from text books," said the youth from Kampung Baru Jinjang, Kuala Lumpur.

The construction of the MRT project would begin in stages in the second quarter of next year while work on the tunnel stretching 51 kilometres from Sungai Buloh to Kajang would begin in the second quarter of 2014.

- Bernama