‘WE HAD TO REVIEW 97 TRANSACTIONS’
Minister says there is a need to balance requirements of stakeholders in Federal Territories
AFTER taking over as the Federal Territories (FT) minister, Khalid Abdul Samad saw a need to balance requirements of stakeholders in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.
In a recent interview to commemorate Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) first anniversary following its victory in the 14th General Election on May 9 last year, he touched on issues, dubious land deals, setting up of a minister’s council and traffic congestion, among others.
On dubious land deals raised by PH lawmakers, Khalid said the
authorities formed a committee comprising officials from the FT Ministry, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, minister’s office and the Attorney-General’s Chambers to check and review the deals.
He said they found 97 transactions (involving a total land size of 272.8ha) that needed to be reviewed.
Khalid said out of the total, 43 transactions were given the green light to proceed, another 15 deals went through renegotiation, which saw an additional RM149 million recovered from their previous original deal and another RM6 million was recovered in the form of corporate social responsibility programmes.
In addition, 14 land deals in the preliminary stages were cancelled and saw the 10 per cent deposit being returned to the developers.
Khalid said a potential RM160 million loss was averted when a deal involving the 14 land transactions proceeded at RM310 million. The plots of land were in actual fact worth RM470 million.
Khalid said there were five outof-court settlements for land deals. It saw RM58 million in infrastructure, RM94 million in land value and RM15 million from miscellaneous transactions being recouped.
“Twenty deals involving 63.96ha are under review. In total, the government managed to avert potential losses and profited RM461 million,” he said.
On developer SP Setia Bhd being given a plot of land at Bukit Persekutuan, Khalid said an agreement was signed between the Health Ministry and the developer.
“It was for the development of a health centre in Setia Alam. In return, it (SP Setia) was awarded a plot of land on Bukit Persekutuan near Bangsar. This deal was among the many things I inherited when I took over office. We cannot simply cancel the agreement as it will have legal implications. What we can do is hold negotiations with the affected parties.”
On the formation of a minister’s council here, he said the move was to improve the quality of democracy in the federal capital.
The minister’s council comprises 11 members of parliament (MPs) from the federal capital and they would decide the policies that will be implemented by DBKL.
“Prior to this, MPs did not have official platforms to bring the voice of their constituents,” he said, adding that the council would also comprise DBKL top management officials.
Khalid said the move would boost the role of MPs and would move for it to be included in the (Federal Territories) Act.
“States have state legislative assemblies that act as checks-andbalances for the menteri besar, but not in the Federal Territories.”
Khalid said Putrajaya and Labuan would not have such a council as there was only one MP representing each constituency.
On the redevelopment of Kampung Baru, Khalid said the government wanted to maintain the status of the place as a Malay (reserve) area, with housing units and shoplots.
“The issue is how do we raise funds, estimated between RM6 billion and RM10 billion, for land acquisition?
“This (redevelopment issue) is my KPI (key performance indicator) that I must settle this term. For this year, I hope we can work on the finance side of it (redevelopment),” he said.
Khalid said his ministry was also looking into several options in the redevelopment of Kampung Baru, including introducing a municipal bond, which was common in European cities.
On the Taman Rimba Kiara issue, Khalid said developers had been awarded the development order by DBKL.
“But I didn’t allow any work there until agreed upon by the residents in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI).”
He said the previous development plan, comprising eight blocks of high-end condominiums, had been scaled down to four blocks involving 3.2ha of land, compared with the original 4.9ha.
The revised plan would include residential units for Bukit Kiara longhouse residents.
“However, this did not go down well with TTDI residents.
“So we will continue negotiating (on the matter).
“The developers had agreed to scale down the project.
“This is the best that I can do. I want to resolve this problem this year because some 100 families living in a longhouse (in the area) have been waiting for (permanent housing units) for more than 36 years,” Khalid said.
He said the scaled-down Taman Rimba Kiara project was a “win-win solution” that allowed the longhouse residents to remain in the area.
He said this move would restore a portion of the land to TTDI residents.
On the pedestrianisation in the Kuala Lumpur city centre, Khalid said it would be done in tandem with the River of Life (ROL project).
“It has been done in Europe where the roads are closed to traffic and the public walk to get around.
“An example is Lebuh Ampang located near the ROL.
“For now, we carry out (pedestrians-only access) during weekends and public holidays.
“Depending on public response, we can turn them into pedestrian walkways, except for loading and unloading activities.”
Khalid said the ROL project was expected to be completed by the end of next year.
On the proposed KL City Plan 2040, he said preparations and consultation works had begun.
“We hope to hold a public display on the draft by the end of the year, or early next year.
“We hope to have the plan gazetted by the end of next year.”
On traffic congestion, he said dispersal projects via the construction of a new interchange and flyovers would be continued.
An example was to link Setiawangsa to the Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway, he said.
“We have relaunched the Go KL free bus service, previously used in the city centre, to allow residents in low-cost residential areas, including PPRs (people’s housing projects) to have access to the nearest public transport system like the light-rail transit system.”