Compulsory government acquisition of Kim Teng Park, Johor Bahru, cancelled

Johor Bahru (Oct 27): Residents of Kim Teng Park, Johor Bahru, who have been living in limbo since May 2015, breathed a collective sigh of relief recently when they heard the announcement that their homes were no longer part of a compulsory government acquisition.

Special representative for Johor Baru MP Tan Sri Shahrir Abd Samad, Mok Chek Hou, made the announcement at a press conference in Kerala restaurant.

In the press conference, it was revealed that the residents committee had received a letter from the Johor Bahru land administrator’s office dated October 15, stating that the acquisition process had been cancelled.

“On behalf of the residents’ committee and the residents of Kim Teng Park, we thank the state government for listening to our plight and appeal to not proceed with the acquisition,” said residents’ committee representative, S. Rajasingam.

“We are indebted to Tan Sri Shahrir for standing with us from the start, for his help in taking this matter to the state government and succeeding in getting the acquisition process cancelled,” he added.

When the residents, many who are elderly, received the gazette notice issued on May 21, 2015, for the government acquisition of Kim Teng Park, they were overwhelmed and many were severely traumatised.

In the subsequent months, the residents’ committee battled to stop the state government from acquiring their housing estate and sought the help of Shahrir.

In August, the residents’ committee received a letter from the Johor Baru land administrator’s office notifying them that the hearing for the acquisition, scheduled for September, had been postponed until further notice.

While the residents were then relieved that their homes were no longer being acquired, some voiced their concerns that this unfortunate situation may recur in the future.

“We want freehold to be truly freehold,” said Foo Lee Fei, who said that the relevant sub-sections of the National Land Acquisition Act should be amended to stop corporations from acquiring residential land for commercial purposes.

“I can breathe easier now and maybe live a little longer,” said Jaswant Singh, who succinctly summed up the prevailing sentiment among the residents, of which some of the more elderly had been traumatised by the prospect of losing their homes.

“As new buildings are being developed nearby, we look forward to the state government’s help to give Kim Teng Park a facelift and an upgrade to compliment the surrounding developments,” said Rajasingam, thanked Mok for his continued support. -- The Malaysian Insider

 
Are Johor Bahru prices so high that Kim Teng Park was put on the compulsory land acquisition list? Find out how prices in Kim Teng Park, Johor Bahru, have trended here.