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KUALA LUMPUR: Stakeholders of Malaysia’s IT-themed city Cyberjaya are engaging the government in talks to include Cyberjaya in its mass rapid transit (MRT) connectivity plans.
“Stakeholders are putting in efforts to see if we can bring the MRT into Cyberjaya,” said Liew Yeon Keong, head of sales and marketing (property development division) of Cyberjaya’s master developer, Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd, at a media briefing yesterday.
“Cyberjaya is unique in the sense that there are four major stakeholders: MoF (Ministry of Finance) incorporated companies such as Cyberview [Sdn Bhd], local council Majlis Perbandaran Sepang, Setia Haruman as the master developer, and Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC).
“These four stakeholders are actually putting in the effort [to lobby for MRT connectivity] but we would not want to announce anything because we are still at the preliminary stage,” he said.
“We are in talks [with the government] but we cannot disclose anything yet. This is sensitive information which we cannot disclose … the stakeholders have our regular meetings and this is one of the agendas that we want to put forward,” he said.
Nevertheless, Liew expects the proposed MRT Line 2, which in its current plan will connect Sungai Buloh to Serdang, and then extend to Putrajaya, will still be a great boost for Cyberjaya although it does not stop at Cyberjaya.
“Of course MRT is great. Based on various studies in major towns and cities in the world, wherever the MRT station is, value of properties will appreciate by 20% to 30% … This [announcement of MRT Line 2 being extended to Putrajaya] is already having a positive impact,” he said.
Even if the MRT Line 2 is not passing through Cyberjaya, Setia Haruman said it plans to provide feeder services from the nearest MRT stations to Cyberjaya.
Greater connectivity to Cyberjaya through various highways has encouraged property developers to move their developments to Cyberjaya with the construction of the Maju Expressway (MEX) specifically lauded as a “blessing”.
S P Setia Bhd general manager of commercial and business development Pipah Mohd Nasir said, “Six years ago, Setia Haruman [was] knocking on doors saying ‘Come to Putrajaya’. I’ll say it’s a ghost city. But, the minute there is MEX … it is 20 minutes to KLCC and 20 minutes to the airport.”
According to Liew, Cyberjaya is only a few years short of showing its potential for a boom. The master developer is aiming to develop and complete 30,000 units of residential properties and expects the population to exceed 100,000 by 2016.
While an increase in Cyberjaya’s residential population will help businesses thrive, Liew concedes that his targets are modest.
“Of course, if you are talking about [Cyberjaya] being completed we are looking at a population of 420,000. That was the master plan. But, by 2016, we would have achieved more than 100,000, which is quite an achievement already.
“You need time for units to be completed. It’s a conservative figure and we do not set our aims too high. But, with that figure, we believe that businesses will be able to thrive. Beyond that, we are looking at much higher targets by 2020,” he explained.
According to developers present at the briefing, there is an increase in the number of people who work in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya moving to Cyberjaya, and they are poised to meet the newcomers’ demands for commercial and residential properties.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 9, 2014.
