Kampung Baru administrators want Bill delayed

KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 Kampung Barus administrators want Putrajaya to postpone the Kampung Baru Development Bill as the majority of landowners have yet to respond to a referendum on the proposal to redevelop the capitals Malay enclave.

The Bill is slotted for its second reading in Parliament this week but the Kampung Baru Malay Agricultural Settlement Administrative Board (MAS) told The Malaysian Insider that with most of the 700 private land lots yet to register a response, further delays were necessary.

File photo of Kampung Baru residents and owners at a briefing session on the proposed development of their property in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month.

The law was first read in Dewan Rakyat last December, but residents, backed by Pakatan Rakyat (PR), opposed the initial plan which would have paved the way for a new body to replace MAS and give Putrajaya full authority and immunity from legal proceedings with regards to developing the 111-year-old settlement.

The Malaysian Insider understands that as of last Friday, only 30 per cent of referendum forms have been returned.

We are still waiting for those living outside of Kuala Lumpur, MAS honorary secretary Shamsuri Suradi said.

With no deadline set for the referendum, Shamsuri said that in the near future, I feel there wont be a resolution but insisted that the government should wait until the results are out.

Three weeks ago, the Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Ministry held briefings on amendments to the proposed law following protests from Kampung Baru landowners.

Attendees were given referendum forms asking if they agreed to Putrajayas proposal to redevelop the settlement, the formation of a new corporation to act as the main co-ordinator and for the development to be carried out by government-linked companies.

The Najib administration has said that the Cabinet will r! elook th e Bill if the referendum did not support the governments proposals.

Most of the land in the settlement is under multiple ownership due to Islamic inheritance laws and cost a fraction of the land across the Klang River, where the worlds tallest twin towers dominate the skyline.

There are more than 4,000 landowners spread across seven villages in the settlement measuring 90.2 hectares, hemmed in by newer buildings including the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers.

An average of five co-owners share each lot now, although some lots have many more.

Kampung Baru lies within the Titiwangsa federal constituency, which has always been an Umno fortress but fell to PAS in Election 2008.

Pakatan Rakyat has been quick to capitalise on the growing anger of residents unhappy with the Najib administrations plans to develop the area into an icon of Malay ownership in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.