THE Federal Territories Ministry has come with a 20-year development plan for the city’s Malay enclave, Kg Baru.

The Kg Baru 2040 Development Master Plan was drawn up to replace the Development Concept Plan 2019, which was not feasible lacking the consent of all the landowners, Kampong Bharu Development Corporation (PKB) said in a statement today.

It said the old plan’s offer to purchase from the owners their land at RM1,000 per sq ft was not fully taken up.

Only 61% of the landowners had accepted the offer, it said.

The old plan was also costly to execute, requiring RM7.4 billion just for land acquisition and RM10 billion more for other costs.

“The new direction of the development is more realistic and can be implemented through a more focused approach, according to priority areas and taking into account the complexity of an area to meet the development needs in Kampung Baru,” said the statement.

It said that among the projects for immediate implementations was the upgrading of the main road infrastructure in the area including Jalan Raja Uda, Jalan Raja Muda Musa, Jalan Mahmud, the proposed bypass of Jalan Raja Alang to Jalan Raja Uda and the realignment of Jalan Datuk Abdul Malik.

The new plan also proposed the construction of a slip road from the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway to Jalan Hassan Salleh and Jalan Sungai Baru, as well as construction of the DUKE Phase 2A entering Kampung Baru.

The plan will be implemented in phases according to which lots of land have the owner’s consent for development.

“The development either involves direct involvement of the government through government-linked companies or joint ventures by the landowners with private developers or self-developed by landowners organically with certain incentives,” he said.

As the facilitator in the development plan, the functions of PKB would be enhanced so that it could play the role of a developer for property projects in Kampung Baru.

“To successfully redevelop Kampung Baru into a commercial centre and Malay settlement in the Kuala Lumpur city centre, the voice and hopes of the landowners and their heirs will be taken into consideration by the government,” it said.

On September 21, last year, the Pakatan Harapan government offered to buy land in the area at RM1,000 per sq ft payable in RM850 in cash and RM150 special purpose vehicle (SPV) shares.

The rate was fixed by the Valuation and Property Services Department. – Bernama, August 21, 2020.