OWNERS of lots in the Plaza Rakyat project, which has been stalled for 20 years, are appealing to the Pakatan Harapan government to help them get compensation.

The project, located in Jalan Pudu, was abandoned in 1998 after efforts to revive the area proved futile following the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

In 2015, a new developer took over the project, and has been stuck in a deadlock with the unit holders, who are demanding that they be paid interest for the 20 years they have had their funds tied up.

Steven Yong, 78, said lot owners are hoping to meet Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad and bring up their grouses.

“We hope to meet Khalid, and we hope that he can help us. I’m old and have no income. I have to rely on relatives.

“I hope the new government can help us get back our deposit with interest,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Yong said he had purchased two Plaza Rakyat lots, worth RM125,000 and RM65,000.

“One lot was for my wife to open a hair salon, but she has died. The other was to be a retail shop. We dumped all our savings into these lots.”

Former deputy Federal Territories minister Loga Bala Mohan was reported to have said the government would only allow the project to restart once the issue of compensation to buyers was resolved.

He had said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the new developer, as the landowner, did not have any legal obligation towards the lot owners.

Another owner, 70-year-old Francis Hoi Fatt, said some unit holders just want their deposit back, while others want to meet with DBKL as the new developer has issued new sale and purchase agreements for the units.

He said the previous government had failed to address the issue.

“Our lawyer wrote to the Prime Minister’s Department, Federal Territories Ministry and DBKL several times, but there was no response.”

Since January, 104 of the 211 original buyers have been issued offer letters by the new developer, and negotiations are ongoing.

The new developer, Profit Consortium Sdn Bhd, had signed a sale and purchase agreement with DBKL to take over the 6.2ha site for RM740 million in October 2015.

Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun said he has been bringing up the Plaza Rakyat project in Parliament since 1999.

“Three years ago, a new buyer for Plaza Rakyat agreed to pay back the deposit. More than half (of lot owners) have gotten their money back, but there are a few who don’t want it.

“They want to sue the developer to get more interest for the last 20 years. They had tried to sue the previous developer, but the developer went bankrupt.”

Plaza Rakyat was supposed to be a mixed-use site comprising a 79-storey office tower, 46-storey condominium, 24-storey hotel and seven-storey shopping centre. But, it remains forsaken till this day. – August 12, 2018.