KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers today accused the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) of issuing “contradictory excuses” in explaining the alleged realignment of the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) to spare the home of a noted personality.
Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said SPAD’s response to their claim last week that it shifted a portion of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang line at Jalan Damansara here to bypass the unnamed VIP’s mansion, as “incongruous, unbelievable and contradictory excuses in the entire land acquisition exercise”.
According to the PR MPs, work on the original tunnel site has now been stopped, the tunnel portal relocated and a variation order issued to the contractor, ensuring that the line no longer passes beneath the house.
SPAD, the project regulators for the mammoth MRT project, said last Thursday the line was rerouted to save money and not to save a prominent ex-minister’s home as claimed.
SPAD chief executive Mohd Nur Kamal had said the allegation is “totally false” and the “item marked on the map as the ‘VIP House’ is totally incorrect”, and that the original proposed alignment did not affect the building in the first place.
Today, Pua said the original alignment plan for the tunnel issued by SPAD and Syarikat Prasarana Negara showed it cutting below the swimming pool and an ancillary building at the mansion residence.
Mohd Nur said SPAD decided to change the proposed rail line in Jalan Damansara after getting feedback from the land owners for two main reasons: Firstly, there was suitable alternative land nearby that allowed it to shift the MRT’s original alignment; and secondly, the realignment reduced the amount of land acquisition by over 1,000 sq m.He said the same principles applied for the MRT rail tracks at Jalan Sultan and Jalan Bukit Bintang that have also stirred heavy debate.
Pua today demanded that SPAD disclose the total cost incurred for the realignment, especially with tunnelling works having already begun on the initial alignment.
He also pointed out that the National Land Code 1965 was amended in 1990 to allow for the acquisition of subterranean land without affecting surface property.
“The amendment enables the disposal of ‘underground land’, which can then either be alienated or lease for the use to construct tunnels, car parks and to lay pipes,” he said.
“The flimsy reply provided by SPAD is completely unacceptable and only serves to confirm the fears of ordinary Malaysians that special privileges are accorded only to the very privileged few, while the rights of the honest man trying to make a living on the street are trampled upon indiscriminately,” he said.
…more
Pakatan MPs want SPAD to come clean over VIP line shift
October 10, 2011 – MI
Posts Tagged ‘MRT
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — The ongoing land rights dispute between the MRT project owner and city traders here has turned into a political hot potato that could see the country’s most expensive infrastructure project delayed.
The months of discussions, public engagement talks, court challenges, street protests and interventions by civil society groups and politicians across the divide have made no headway in resolving the issue.
Today, Jalan Sultan and Jalan Bukit Bintang traders — backed by former MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and DAP’s Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun — attempted to up the ante by threatening to raise their grouses directly with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak if their demands are not met.
The ad hoc committees encompassing traders from both streets have also banded together to form the “Committee of preserving Jalan Sultan and Jalan Bukit Bintang”, a special joint taskforce aimed at pressuring the government into considering a realignment to the MRT’s Sungai Buloh-Kajang line.
But a meeting held last Thursday with MRT Co already gave the group clear indication that the project owner was just as unwilling to budge from its planned acquisition of prime properties located along both the iconic streets.
According to Ong, MRT Co officials gave “not one chance” to the traders to present their alternative route, which would see their properties saved.
“The realignment proposal was shot down, or rather, it was not allowed to be presented at all. Not one chance was given, leaving no room for alternative views,” he lamented today.
MRT Co has also allegedly approached individual traders with offers of attractive compensation packages aimed at enticing them into giving up their properties.
The move has spread fear among traders that their struggle to keep their properties would eventually fall apart.
“Do not tell me that this is the only line available and we cannot even consider an alternative route,” the joint taskforce’s chairman Tan Yew Sing told press conference held at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) this afternoon.
…more
KL land row threatens to derail MRT project
October 12, 2011 – MI
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — A local transport advocacy group has questioned the wisdom of committing up to RM50 billion into the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project without waiting for a public transport masterplan that will only be completed at the end of this month.
The Association For The Improvement Of Mass Transit (Transit) told The Malaysian Insider that this has tied the hands of transport authorities to the project instead of alternatives such as a bus rapid transit (BRT).
File photo of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (centre) launching the MRT project in July.
“We’ve put the cart before the horse as we’ve already decided we want to have the largest-ever infrastructure project, got the alignment and public feedback done and giving out contracts but nobody really knows what the big picture plan is,” said its spokesman Rajiv Rishyakaran.Rajiv, who is representing the group while its chairman Muhammad Zulkarnain Hamzah is in Canada pursuing further studies, cited the Light Rail Transit (LRT) as a warning of the pitfalls of going ahead without a blueprint.
“Now more than a decade later they are extending it for RM7 billion,” he said of the two LRT lines which had cost an initial RM5.5 billion but continues to see low traffic at several stations.
The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) had begun drafting a national public transport masterplan in September last year, three months after it was established to streamline the country’s public transport system.
Although it gave itself 12 months to finalise the national public transport blueprint, the alignment for the first MRT line running 51km from Sungai Buloh to Kajang was opened to public feedback in March with tendering of work beginning in April.
SPAD chief executive Mohd Nur Kamal had said at the official MRT launch in July that “there is no sense waiting” for the masterplan as the mega project was primarily geared towards “jump-starting” the Najib administation’s Economic Transformation Programme.
Rajiv said the masterplan also fell short of a full transport masterplan that would take into account other parties such as the Public Works Department, local councils and the Malaysian Highway Authority.
“Instead, SPAD will plan and cross its fingers that everything else falls into place,” the Subang Jaya local councillor said.
…more
MRT on wrong track without masterplan, says Transit
September 10, 2011 – Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Several traders in Bukit Bintang, the capital’s main shopping district, affected by the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project staged a protest today against the proposed acquisition of their properties for the project.
Among the 30-odd protestors were DAP MPs Tony Pua, Tan Kok Wai, Lim Lip Eng and Fong Kui Lun, who is also Bukit Bintang MP.
Datuk Chong Peng Wah, 74, chairman of the Bukit Bintang Protem Action Committee, told reporters that two MRT stations were proposed to be built at both ends of Jalan Bukit Bintang on existing vacant plots, known as BB West and BB East, near the Pavilion mall.
“We are not anti-development, we are not anti-establishment, we are only seeking and pleading with the government that our legitimate grievances, our interests, are adequately reflected in that decision,” he said, describing the 30 affected shops the heart of business in Bukit Bintang.
“Since land is a constitutional right, it should not be taken from us without adequate consideration of the actual need to acquire.”
MRT operator Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (Prasarana) had said on August 22 that 20 lots in Bukit Bintang will be acquired for the MRT to make way for tunnelling work and an underground station.
Prasarana project development director Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff had said the lots along Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Imbi, Jalan Jati, Jalan Inai, Jalan Kamuning, Jalan Kampung and Jalan Utara would be acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1960.
Zulkifli, however, denied that the government would develop the prime land in the Golden Triangle, citing “the safety of the tunnel”.
The Malaysian Insider understands that the lots include two fast-food restaurants — McDonald’s and KFC — a Porsche car showroom, a batik gallery, a private club, offices and residential properties.
Landowners told reporters that their properties were not included during the three-month public display of the MRT project in February, while some of them had yet to receive official notices.
“We are the people who made Bukit Bintang what it is today. Bukit Bintang became a market place for tourists long before mega projects and malls were established in this area.“Now with one stroke of a pen, the government is adopting a flip-flop policy where in the name of mega projects they are going to reduce us to nothing,” Chong said.
…more
Bukit Bintang traders protest MRT land grab
September 17, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Rushed tender deadlines, slow decision-making and an abrupt change of project owners is blighting the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project that is already reeling from controversial land acquisitions along the Sungai Buloh-Kajang line, critics say.
The Malaysian Insider understands that the key independent check engineer (ICE) job has finally been issued — eight months after it was first put up for tender in the last week of December 2010 — just before the change of project owners.
It was one of many tenders that had short deadlines, much to the dismay of many engineering companies interested in taking part in the bidding.
“The ICE tender was on the last week of December 2010 when most people are on holiday. If that is not bad enough, it took them eight months to finally send out the official award letter,” an industry source told The Malaysian Insider.
“And what is strange is the award was given out so late by Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (Prasarana) but just days before the project was transferred to MRT Co as the new owners,” he added, referring to the switch in project owners by Putrajaya.
Putrajaya had announced last month that MRT Co would take over as project owners effective September 1, with former managing director of Sime Darby Plantation, Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid, as the chief executive officer.
“They might as well have waited for MRT Co to relook and sign the contracts as they are the new project owners,” the industry source said.
The Malaysian Insider reported on April 14 that the Prasarana board was to meet on that day to award the contract for two per cent of the undetermined project cost, which is reportedly above market rates.
The report said the consortium of HSSI, Hong Kong’s MTR Corp Ltd and Canadian SNC-Lavalin was likely to land the contract despite being rejected by SPNB earlier for not putting a price to its brief — which usually costs up to 0.8 per cent of the total project.
It was understood that the matter was taken off the agenda at the last minute. Prasarana later admitted that HSSI and SNC-Lavalin were already working on the project since February while waiting for the formal award letter.
It is now learnt that the contract price has been revised from RM700 million to RM200 million. The engineering consortium is also seeing a reduced role for SNC-Lavalin while MTR Corp Ltd has pulled out. A key component of the tender requirements is a partnership with an MRT operator.
…more
Hasty deadlines, languid decisions marring MRT project
September 14, 2011 – Malaysian Insider
Disputes over the MRT project
AUG 29 — Before construction of the RM36.6 billion Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system project has officially started, it has triggered a wave of disputes in the country, showing that execution and credibility are the keys of a major project implementation.
The MRT project has triggered a land acquisition controversy and it is mainly due to some doubts on the implementation.
The first deficiency is the lack of transparency. Traders along Jalan Sultan received an oral notice of land acquisition from the authority at the end of July without any clear instructions, including the fate of the historical and heritage sites, as well as compensation details.
Without convening those who would be affected for a briefing, rumours accusing Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd of aiming to gain profit from the land acquisition exercise were flying.
Also, there were three different versions of explanations from MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar and Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala.
The lack of transparency causes suspicions. Just like the recent 6P amnesty programme, it would not raise a suspicion if they could make the announcement of increasing the levy on foreign workers in all sectors by RM50 before the registration was started.
The second deficiency is that is the MRT project a social service or money-making tool?
Jala wrote in a letter that “the rail and property model is a business model that has been successfully applied by the Hong Kong MTR Corporation in developing the HK MRT rail network. The HK MTR revenues are currently based on 35 per cent fare box revenues, with the remainder being derived from property development.”
However, based on my own observation during a trip to Hong Kong, the HK MRT was built underground without affecting any buildings on the ground. There was no removal or relocation exercise involved. The so-called acquired land for property development was mainly reclamation land, instead of existing commercial and residential areas.
It could bring a huge profit if the MRT stations could gather crowds from residential and commercial areas, just like various underground retail and service shops around subway stations in Japan. However, the current Light Railway Transit (LRT) stations in Kuala Lumpur are deserted and not performing the same function. Would the MRT stations fall into the same fate?
Moreover, the acquisition exercise in the Bukit Bintang business district involves a huge compensation cost and certainly, it will raise the construction cost.
Investment returns should not be put on a par with historical and heritage sites either. Where could we get another historical record if the century-old shoplots in Jalan Sultan are demolished?
…more
Disputes over the MRT project — Lim Sue Goan
August 29, 2011 – Malaysian Insider
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has accused Putrajaya of using the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) as an excuse to acquire prime land after it was revealed that the government will rely on property development to foot project costs.
DAP international secretary Liew Chin Tong said the modified rail-and-property model was just “land grab by another name” and accused the Land Public Transport Authority (SPAD) of putting revenue considerations before the needs of the public.
He told The Malaysian Insider that the regulator’s focus on how to maximise returns through property redevelopment rather than public transport requirements was akin to putting the cart before the horse, and called an example of “worst planning practices”.
“You should look at transport needs and how to cater for that before anything else,” Liew said, adding that this called into question whether the alignment of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) line had been determined by property development propositions rather than demand.
“The most important thing is to think how to get people to work (riding the MRT)… The number one priority is to ensure this is the easiest way to work so you don’t have a peak hour (congestion) problem.”
PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said the viability of the entire MRT project was now suspect given the risky nature of property developments, especially since the government will incur “huge public debt” financing them.
He pointed out that returns from such developments were not guaranteed as the outlook for the high-end property market was “quite gloomy” and there was already a property glut in the Klang Valley.
“This is the danger of the MRT project if it’s not managed properly,” he said.
Rafizi also questioned the timeline for property development on the acquired land and whether it would take place before or after the MRT is scheduled to begin service in 2016.
..more
Pakatan: MRT rail, property model is land grab
August 27, 2011 – Malaysian Insider
Come clean on MRT project
PETALING JAYA: DAP has accused the government of sending mixed signals over the Jalan Sultan MRT (My Rapid Transit) project.
Party supremo Lim Kit Siang demanded that the government come clean over the uncertain fate of Kuala Lumpur’s MRT-afflicted Chinatown lots.
“The affected Jalan Sultan traders and the Malaysian public are entitled to ask, who is telling the truth about the MRT Jalan Sultan land acquisition: (Dr) Chua Soi Lek, Hamid Albar or Idris Jala?” Lim asked in a press statement.
Calling it the latest in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s “flip-flop list”, the Ipoh Timur MP said that the government was sending mixed signals over the matter.
“Only three days ago, Chua (the MCA president) announced that the government had backtracked from its decision to acquire the land and 31 buildings around Jalan Sultan… to make way for the MRT.”
At the time, lot owners in Chinatown and nearby Bukit Bintang sighed in relief at the news, with some calling it a “slight ray of hope”.
However, Lim added that Land Public Transport Commission chairman Syed Hamid Albar rubbished Chua’s statement, saying that the 31 Jalan Sultan MRT-affected lots required compulsory acquisition.
“Hamid delivered a greater shocker when he declared that there was no guarantee that the acquired Jalan Sultan properties would eventually be returned to the owners,” Lim said.
This was compounded further by a letter from Pemandu chief Idris Jala to the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM) president William Chen.
Lim said that Idris had tried to justify the government’s pursuit in a “rail-and-property” model through land acquisitions and subsequent developments on them.
Jala, a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said that the government would not be able to cover the cost of the MRT’s first line – Sungai Buloh-Kajang – through costs alone.
Lim also hit out at the government for holding on to “grandiose promises” through its various transformation programmes.
“It (the government) bears the responsbility to satisfy the Jalan Sultan traders and owners as well as the public that the MRT’s project owners, Prasarana, is not attempting to hijack heritage lots (in Chinatown),” he said.
Earlier this month, Chinatown traders got the shock of their lives when they attended a public briefing on the acquisition of their lots.
Many of them were told that they needed to vacate their land at the last minute in order to make way for the upcoming MRT – Malaysia’s largest infrastructure project to date.
…more
Come clean on MRT project, urges Kit Siang
August 26, 2011 – FMT
Seven questions on the MRT
The pertinent questions to ask are:
1) At what cost is it being built and is it competitive including the terms and conditions?
2) Are the routes integrated with our existing transport system optimally with sufficient parking space?
3) Can our current transport system especially feeder buses cater to the MRT’s huge volume and if not (most likely not) how much will an upgrade cost?
4) Will SPAD publish details of all contractors including price tendered and the rationale the contracts were awarded on its website?
5) Will SPAD publish all queries raised by MPs and address them publicly on its website?
6) What is the background of those appointed to oversee the various aspects of this project and the basis for their appointment?
7) Have we studied problems faced by other countries in implementing similar projects so as to avoid needlessly repeating them?
MRT recipe to enrich cronies?
Above-market consultation fees coupled with a Project Delivery Partner dictating who gets what, have lent credence to speculation that the country’s biggest infrastructure project, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), is just another way to enrich Barisan Nasional’s cronies.
Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua (right) said by awarding contracts first and deciding fees later, the project made a mockery of the claim of reforms through the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).
“The opaque and obtuse management of the RM53 billion MRT project has proven beyond doubt that Najib’s administration is ‘all talk, and no action’,” said Pua, taking prime minister Najib Razak to task for stating that PDP would bear all cost-overruns on the MRT project.
Earlier, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim called for an independent panel to review the RM55 billion project, citing questions surrounding the appointment of Gamuda-MMC as its PDP. Anwar said Gamuda-MMC has interests in finalising the project’s specification to maximise profits, which are paid through tax payers’ money.
