KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 10) :The Preservation of Jalan Sultan Committee (PJSC) today (Tuesday) demanded the government and responsible departments to suspend the construction of the mass rapid transit (MRT) project in Jalan Sultan in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur.

At a press conference held at the Parliament lobby today, committee co-chairman Yong Yew Wei said the construction of the MRT along Jalan Sultan was allowed by the government to proceed despite several shortcomings that have not been addressed.

"We appeal to the Prime Minister and this government to suspend the MRT project in Jalan Sultan and order MRT Corp [Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd] to revert to its drawing board to review alignment of the MRT tunnel… and not to ignore the objections of the people on the MRT project; to honour the PM's promise to preserve the historical buildings and withdraw the gazette with immediate effect; and to offer an explanation to the stakeholders and the public for fixing the Jalan Sultan alignment solely to serve the Warisan Merdeka and [a] refusal to consider a realignment despite public objections," said Yong.

He also claimed that MRT Corp has not done proper social impact studies to assess how the Klang Valley MRT (KVMRT) project will drastically impact on the history and cultural heritage in Jalan Sultan and its vicinity, which include public amenities such as schools and house of worships.

Besides that, Yong said there has been no public consultation as stakeholders have no knowledge of any public consultation or engagements with the community. MRT Corp and Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (Prasarana) have also provided contradictory soil test report, which is crucial for the safety of the shophouses, Yong alleged.

Yong said the government has also planned to redevelop certain extent of Jalan Sultan, and realigned and fixed the road to serve the planned 100-storey tower Warisan Merdeka near Stadium Merdeka.

"To us, this is very unwise because it will disrupt the daily life of the  community and will deter tourists away from this heritage area. We have actually had many meetings with responsible parties, especially with MRT Corp and the government — but for the past whole year, we have not received any response from the government.

"Today, we come to Parliament to garner support from the opposition, because we think that probably the opposition parties are more concerned, and they show more support about the destroying act of our local government," he said.

Ishak Surin, president of Pertahankan Warisan Kita, a non-governmental organisation said that for about 40 years Kuala Lumpur has been administered by a dictatorship, as the local authority can do whatever they like such as grabbing people's lands and kicking out kampung folks to make way for development.

"I reiterate my statement in the previous conference, which means to say that this city is administered by those whom we don't know. That is why we want Kuala Lumpur to be administered with the participation of representatives that are directly elected by the people of Kuala Lumpur.

"The time has passed, it has been forty years that Kuala Lumpur residents have been administered through a dictatorship. That is why the authorities can do whatever they want, they can take our lands, and kick us out of our homes, like those people in Kampong Kerinchi, and do as their wish," he said.

Among the opposition MPs present in support of the committee were Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Tian Chua, who is also the MP for Batu, as well as Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar.

"This issue is right in front of us... it is not only the grouses of the owners of Jalan Sultan, but also for the rest of Kuala Lumpur. Over the years, there have been a lot of cultural heritages in Kuala Lumpur that has for years symbolises the culture of Kuala Lumpur has been eroded and demolished to make way for development.

"This is very disappointing, because if we look around the world, many cities have been able to maintain their cultural heritage. Why is it in Malaysia that development plan does not include the multi-culturalism of the city, [but is] just to serve the benefit of some developers and businesses?" said Chua.