The central Kampung Baru district will begin undergoing a massive 20-year long overhaul from the end of next year onwards, but contrary to initial plans, the mega-project will not be financed by the Federal Government, or benefit from any federal guarantee.
Previously, the Federal Government had agreed to provide financing for Kampung Baru Development Corp’s (PKB) urban renewal plan for Kampung Baru’s 301 acres (121.8 hectares) of prime downtown real estate. That financing offer was withdrawn at the eleventh hour following criticism of the government’s excessive spending and the fear of mounting debts.
PKB chairman Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz, a former UMNO member of Parliament for Titiwangsa, said the withdrawal of government financing will not delay the project, although it has added more work to PKB’s schedule.
The Malaysian Reserve reports that PKB is now working with its partners to rework their financial model and to raise another RM1.5 billion to kick-start the redevelopment project.
“Even without the government stepping in, we are bullish on bridging finance for the project mainly because the land value has risen more than 50% from last year,” Astaman said.
He also related that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had informed him of the government’s turnaround recently.
“He (Najib) advised us of no financial assistance from the government. We can go out and borrow money from the market but even then, without any government guarantee.
“For PKB, we take it as a fair reason, taking into consideration the government’s aim of cutting down its budgetary deficit,” he added.
Based on the Kampung Baru Development 2020 Master Plan draft, a total of 17,500 residential units for 77,000 people are expected to be created by 2035 with more modern amenities.
The number of employment is also expected to shoot up to 46,237 from the 10,560 recorded in 2010. In the draft plan, a total of seven areas in the Kampung Baru vicinity will be redeveloped including Kampung Periok, Kampung Hujung Pasir, Kampung Masjid, Kampung Paya, Kampung Atas A, Kampung Atas B and Kampung Pindah, which encompasses a total area of about 90 million sq ft.
The other plans include repairing the traditional Malay houses, maintaining the existing road names and upgrading community-based structures such as Masjid Kampung Baru and Kelab Sultan Sulaiman. The re-development master plan was opened for public viewing two months ago and to-date it has received mixed reactions.
Astaman said the re-development of Kampung Baru would be modelled based on a development project in Beirut, Lebanon, where the transfer of rights mechanism was proven a success.
Photo: Alexander Synaptic / Flickr
