KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — The controversial 100-storey Warisan Merdeka skyscraper should be built in the historic Kampung Baru as a symbol of Malay achievement in the capital city, an Umno delegate told the party general assembly today.
Titiwangsa Umno chief Datuk Johari Ghani said the RM5 billion tower development by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) would also enhance value in the Malay enclave now dominated by houses and several buildings.
“Datuk Seri, may be you don’t like to hear this but you don’t have to make decision today,” Johari told Datuk Seri Najib Razak while addressing the Umno president’s policy speech.
“What’s wrong with building the Warisan Merdeka Tower in the heart of Malay area in Kampung Baru,” he told the Umno assembly.
The prime minister had announced that PNB would build Malaysia’s tallest building near the historic Stadium Merdeka by 2015.
Najib had said the rationale for the Warisan Merdeka tower was similar to that of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, in that it would serve as a symbol of a modern and developed Malaysia.
The 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers was completed in 1998 in former Selangor Turf Club land which has been redeveloped as the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). There were supposed to be 22 towers ringing the KLCC park but the 1997/1998 Asian Financial Crisis dented the plan.
There are now seven towers with an eighth being built there while several parcels of land was turned into the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
Najib, who is also Finance Minister, had stressed that the project would also have a “multiplier effect” on the economy and help drive it forward, in addition to providing an attractive commercial centre for Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera businesses alike.
The 19-acre development area of the mega project — which includes a condominium and a shopping mall — is sited on the car park and land adjacent to Stadium Negara and Stadium Merdeka.
The plan has seen fierce opposition from the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition which has described the project as wasteful. A Facebook group has targeted getting 100,000 fans to oppose the planned project.
Johari expressed optimism that the project will benefit the Malays apart from increasing land value.
“It will be sign of the Malays’ achievement in Kampung Baru,” he said.
Kampung Baru, the only major Malay enclave in the city centre, was founded 110 years ago and administered by the Malay Agricultural Settlement (MAS).
The settlement spans 153.35 hectares and efforts to develop the prime property, currently worth between RM500 and RM600 per sq foot for commercial lots, have hit roadblocks for the past three decades due to difficulties in getting consent from landowners and beneficiaries.
The Najib administration has put several proposals to develop Kampung Baru, including announcing the Bumiputera Property Trust Foundation to enable prime commercial property ownership in in the Klang Valley through a group ownership scheme,
In his Budget 2011 speech last week , Najib said the foundation will launch a RM1 billion syariah-compliant Bumiputera Property Trust Scheme this year.
This will ensure a meaningful and sustainable participation of Bumiputeras in prime commercial properties in major towns, he added.
