Khalid not one to talk about Kg Sg Baru redevelopment, says residents group

Kampung Sungai Baru residents have claimed that former federal territories minister Khalid Abdul Samad does not have the credibility to talk about the area’s redevelopment issues.

Adviser to the residents’ group, Muzaffar Razman, alleged that this is because Khalid (above) made statements on the issues without doing proper research.

“(For example) in regard to the RM1,000 per square foot payment. He was not the first one who had championed a ‘high price’ as he claimed, as (former prime minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad had done so in 1991.

“Khalid did not do his research when he commented on this matter. He does not know what he’s talking about. That is his problem,” Muzaffar said at a press conference today.

He urged Khalid and the public to refer to the 1991 Parliament Hansard on the matter.

The Kampung Sungai Baru area, located near the iconic Saloma Link Bridge and the Kampung Baru LRT station with clear views of the Petronas Twin Towers, had seen its redevelopment project delayed for nearly a decade over compensation disagreements.

In 2020, the government made its “final and best offers” of RM1,000 per square foot to landowners. Khalid was the federal territories minister at the time.

On Aug 7 last year, he called on the government to intervene in the residents’ dispute, ensuring the landowners could get the best compensation rate from the developer.

At the time, he said the developer offered between RM1,500 and RM1,800 per square foot compensation, in addition to RM1.02 million in property to those who agreed to the redevelopment and RM450 to RM600 per square foot to those who opposed.

In May this year, Mahathir argued that landowners should receive a more appropriate rate of RM3,000 per square foot.

‘Compensation arose only after govt intervention’

Muzaffar insisted that compensation only became an issue after the government became involved in the redevelopment project and the Land Acquisition Act 1960 was invoked.

“If the developers wanted to buy our land, they would have had to pay the price landowners were willing to sell it at. If we did not want to sell, then there should not have been any question of compensation.

“This compensation matter exists only because the government intervened in the project.

“If it were between the private sector and the residents, that would be simple buying and selling. But when developers can’t afford it, they turn to the Land Acquisition Act 1960 to get their way, which is not appropriate,” he said.

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