The Ampang Park station project cannot be relocated as it is one of the crucial parts of the project, says Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Corp strategic communications and PR director Najmuddin Abdullah.

Najmuddin told Bernama yesterday that the Ampang Park station is important since its line will be integrated with the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Kelana Jaya Line.

He was commenting on urgings made by Ampang Park Shopping Centre owners for the MRT to relocate the station to another venue rather than demolishing the city’s first shopping mall.

Najmuddin, however, refused to reveal issues raised during his meeting with the Ampang Park shop owners and the mall’s management on Tuesday on the compulsory acquisition of the building.

He said the purpose of his meeting with the mall’s management was to fulfil an invitation by the management to give a detailed briefing on the MRT project to the shop owners.

The owners and tenants of Ampang Park yesterday urged the Member of Parliament (MP) for Titiwangsa Johari Abdul Ghani, who is also the deputy finance minister, to assist them in the proposed demolition of the historic mall.

Meanwhile, Ampang Park Dealers Association vice-president Wan Kamal Izzudin Wan Kassim, who represented almost 150 owners, expressed the owners’ dissatisfaction over the plan to demolish the mall since the underground station could be built without affecting the structure of the mall like the other projects carried out by the government.

Wan Kamal Izzudin claimed that during the meeting yesterday, the shop owners expressed their dissatisfaction with Ampang Park Management Corp (APMC) for not notifying them about the proposed acquisition, despite knowing about it last year.

He said they were also unhappy with MRT Corp for not proposing alternative sites for the station.

Ampang Park Shopping Centre was built by Low Keng Huat Brothers Realty Sdn Bhd in 1973 and paved the way for the setting up of shopping centres in the country.

The shopping mall is now in the process of being acquired by the government under the Land Acquisition Act 1960 for the purpose of constructing the Ampang Park station for the MRT SSP Line.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall has been tasked to relocate the traders for the Ampang Park MRT project.

- Bernama