Non-Malays will take over Kampung Baru, warns PAS MP
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — PAS MP Dr Lo’ Lo’ Ghazali has warned that the non-Malays would take over ownership of the Kampung Baru Malay enclave here once the Malay Agricultural Settlement (MAS) administration board is dissolved next year, HERE.
The Titiwangsa MP claimed in her Facebook account that the formation of the new advisory council to absorb MAS’ role would eventually erode the rights of the Kampung Baru Malays.
This, she claimed, was because there would no longer be any authority protecting their interests.
“There are three important factors regarding the Kampung Baru Development Corporation Bill 2010 — firstly, the dissolution of MAS means Kampung Baru land will soon be open for non-Malay ownership.
“Next, the formation of the 15-member advisory council to be represented by Kampung Baru villagers is meaningless as the corporation is not obliged to follow the villagers’ suggestions.
“Finally, the corporation is immune to the law as their decisions cannot be challenged in any court,” she wrote.
Dr Lo’ Lo’ suggested that instead of being dissolved, MAS should be promoted as Badan Amanah Kampung Baru to be guardians of the village’s property owners.
“This bill must also be amended so that it is not immune to the law and does not threaten the rights of Kampung Baru villagers,” she said.
She accused Umno and Barisan Nasional of attempting to erode Malay land ownership rights in Kampung Baru by destroying century-old laws that were enacted during the British colonial rule.
“Their calls for Malay Supremacy are merely rhetorics and only protect the rights of those in Umno. We want ‘ketuanan rakyat’ (people supremacy) which is based on Islamic values,” she said.
The Kampung Baru Development Corporation Bill was tabled in Parliament earlier this month and will enable the newly formed body to regulate development in the Malay enclave.
Federal Territory and Urban Well Being Minister Raja Datuk Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin assured villagers during a dialogue shortly after the bill was tabled that the corporation would be dominated and led by Malays.
“This is a manifestation of recommendations made by you, the land owners and beneficiaries. We did not come out with the idea to form the corporation on our own,” he told some 200 villagers during the dialogue.
According to the draft law tabled in Parliament, the corporation must be led by a Malay-Muslim.
An advisory council made up of the local community would also be formed to absorb MAS’ role.
Raja Nong Chik also said that the formation of the corporation was the better option over getting government linked companies (GLC) to develop the area or to form a trust as proposed by the Selangor government.
On the concern that the MAS board would sidelined in the redevelopment, Raja Nong Chik assured that the corporation’s advisory council would continue to play a similar role.
“We are not sidelining MAS. That was why we proposed to form the advisory council,” he said.
“Most of them agreed with the proposal; they are only worried that this place would end up like Bukit Bintang, with all the negative activities,” he added.
In his recent visit to Kampung Baru in early February, Najib announced that villagers and landowners in Kampung Baru would not be relocated in the government’s latest plans to redevelop Kampung Baru.
He also gave his assurance that villagers’ feedback would be sought before any development took place in the settlement.
He added that the land value of Kampung Baru would surpass RM20 billion once the government’s redevelopment plans were fully realised.
MAS has however also questioned the government’s decision to form the corporation as a regulatory body for Kampung Baru’s redevelopment.
According to a source, the details of the draft bill that was tabled earlier this month had been different from what had transpired in the government’s recent discussion with MAS in Malacca last October.
“We disagree with this bill because we noticed that the draft bill was vastly different from our discussion during that meeting.
“Our suggestions raised during the workshop in Malacca were not incorporated,” said the source.
MAS secretary-general Shamsuri Suradi has also admitted that the authority was dissatisfied with the ministry’s explanation on the bill during its dialogue session two weeks ago.
According to Shamsuri the ministry’s explanation had only caused confusion among villagers.
The 110-year old Kampung Baru Kuala Lumpur area covers seven villages, is located on 90.2 hectares of land and occupied by around 35,000 people. The villages are Kampung Periuk, Kampung Masjid, Kampung Atas A, Kampung Atas B, Kampung Hujung Pasir, Kampung Paya and Kampung Pindah.
The Kampung Baru issue has dragged on after the Barisan Nasional federal government (BN), Pakatan Rakyat which controls Selangor, as well as public officials were unable to reach an agreement regarding the development prospects with the residents of the largest Malay settlement in Kuala Lumpur.
