Kuala Lumpur Mayor, Ahmad Fuad Ismail yesterday threw his weight behind the retention of Jalan Sultan heritage shops amid the MRT row, assuring that the shops would not be acquired.
He said the proposed MRT station should co-exist with the century-old shops, which has been earmarked as heritage zone under DBKL’s tourism plan.
“We would like to see the MRT passing by here, but we will deliberate the terms with them so that after the station is built, the heritage shops still stay,” he said at a press conference after a walkabout to Petaling Street on Monday.
He promised to organise a meeting with MRT Corp, Jalan Sultan, Jalan Bukit Bintang, and Jalan Inai traders “as soon as possible” to resolve outstanding issues.
“As far as DBKL is concerned, we would like to see Jalan Sultan shops being retained,” he said.
On talk that MRT constructor MMC-Gamuda plans to flatten Jalan Sultan shoplots and build high-rise buildings after the underground MRT station is complete, Ahmad Fuad said such plan would be allowed.
“First it can be assured that no land acquisition will be made,”
“Second if they want to build high structures, it will not be allowed. Even without the MRT, we have prohibited tall structures in Jalan Sultan.” he said.
On another note, he said the city hall has no plan to increase the number of stalls in Petaling Street.
This is to respond to a business association’s proposal to have two additional rows of stalls at the lower Petaling Street, which drew strong protest among existing traders.
“Maybe we should retain what we have,” Ahmad Fuad said. “Because we have already promised the business community, so there wont be any additions,”
“They can propose, but we won’t agree,” he said.
The popular Chinatown in the center Kuala Lumpur has been decorated with 460 new Chinese lanterns, with authorities and traders gearing up to usher in the Chinese New Year.
Fong said the authorities should realign the Jalan Sultan station to a location nearer to Central Market, as proposed by the Jalan Sultan Traders Action Committee.
“The station will then be near to the LRT and bus stop, it would be an ideal integrated transport solution,” he said.
He said the heritage shops could be subjected to structural damage if MRT Corp insists on the current underground route.
“Once the building is damaged, it’s not a heritage shop anymore because you need to rebuild it,” he said.
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