Not a single building along historic Jalan Sultan will be touched in the construction of the 10km-long MRT tunnel under the landmark Kuala Lumpur neighbourhood.

"The government gives its guarantee that the 20 buildings along Jalan Sultan will not be demolished," Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Ahmad Maslan told Parliament today during Question Time.

NONE He was responding to a query from Fong Chan Onn (BN-Batu Gajah) on the ongoing row between the government and affected residents who stand to lose their lands over the proposed mega public transport project.

However, Ahmad said, the government does not need to give any guarantees on the issue of land ownership as the matter does not arise in the case of the Jalan Sultan residents.

"They are required to leave their property before construction and then return after construction is over. So the question of ownership does not arise."

Other details, he added, were still pending negotiations between the government and the residents of Jalan Sultan.

Replying to a supplementary question from Fong on the return of land to owners after construction of the underground tunnel, Ahmad said the matter did not arise for residents who had already received compensation.

"There are some technical issues, some residents have already been paid compensation. If you are already paid, then we cannot return ownership."

NONE Ahmad also rejected the alternative route along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Loke and the use of a nearby vacant lot to construct the station, as proposed by affected residents' groups, saying the proposal submitted was not feasible and did not fit the MRT project requirements.

"The vacant lot cannot be used as it does not allow for integration with the Pasar Seni LRT station as planned...  the suggested new route requires the track to be built with several tight corners, which the proposed MRT trains will not be able to negotiate," the Pontian MP added.

Residents and landowners of the century-old Chinese neighbourhood of Jalan Sultan are locked in dispute with the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad), over the acquisition of their properties for the construction of the underground tunnel as part of the multi-b illion ringgit MRT project.

The government remains adamant that the route is locked as it is the most optimum and with the least social and environmental impact, thereby rejecting the alternative plans proposed by the residents.

A tentative compromise has been reached with the political intervention of the MCA to separate the ownership of the surface and underground land, thus allowing the tunnel to be constructed without dispossessing the residents.

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