Muhyiddin cannot wash hands off Kg Sg Baru issue - Khalid
N Faizal Ghazali
Published: Apr 15, 2025 11:52 AM
Updated: 1:52 PM
Summary
- Former Federal Territories minister Khalid Samad has criticised Muhyiddin Yassin for trying to distance himself from the Kampung Sungai Baru land grab issue.
- Khalid says Muhyiddin was leading the government when the then FT minister Annuar Musa invoked the Land Acquisition Act.
INTERVIEW | Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin should not wash his hands from the controversy surrounding the Kampung Sungai Baru land acquisition in Kuala Lumpur, said Khalid Samad.
According to the former Federal Territories minister, the land grab happened when Muhyiddin was leading Putrajaya and it must have been discussed in the cabinet.
"Muhyiddin cannot absolve himself from responsibility by saying he was not involved in the matter, because he was the prime minister when (then Federal Territories minister) Annuar Musa invoked the Land Acquisition Act 1960.
"I want to say that all Perikatan Nasional MPs, whether they are from Bersatu or PAS, cannot simply wash their hands off this issue because they were in Parliament when I objected to Annuar's action in the Dewan Rakyat, to the extent that I had to debate Shahidan (Kassim) about Kampung Sungai Baru in the special chambers.
"(But) they (PN MPs) who were in the dozens just kept quiet then," said Khalid (above), who is also the Federal Territories Amanah chairperson.
Khalid spoke to Malaysiakini during an exclusive interview in Shah Alam yesterday.
On Sunday, Muhyiddin in a press statement denied involvement in the acquisition of Kampung Sungai Baru land, which occurred when PN was in power.
Last week, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said he believed that parties involved in the land acquisition at Kampung Sungai Baru, Kuala Lumpur when PN was in power should explain themselves to affected residents.
This came after residents claimed cabinet ministers from PN sided with the land developer instead of land owners during compensation negotiations.
Tuan Ibrahim was among 23 opposition representatives who attended a briefing session with Kampung Sungai Baru residents affected by the land grab.
Over 100 homeowners disagreed
Commenting on the issue of redevelopment in Kampung Sungai Baru, Khalid said the plan was initially pursued by a developer who went to negotiate with home and land owners without involving the government.
This happened between 2016 and 2017 when the federal administration was under BN leadership.
Khalid said Titiwangsa MP Johari Ghani had at the time advised land owners to reject the developer's offer as it allegedly did not have strong financial standing.
According to Khalid, when he became the minister in charge in 2018, the land deal issue was already quiet to the extent that the land owners started asking questions about whether it would still go on.
No clue about offer
The former Shah Alam MP said, at the time, he did not know what offer the developer had made to the villagers and who among them had accepted the deal or otherwise.
"However, after the Pakatan Harapan government 1.0 collapsed (in 2020) due to 'tebuk atap' (backdoor arrangement), Annuar took over as the FT minister and the process to redevelop Kampung Sungai Baru became active again.
Former FT minister Annuar Musa
"This went to the extent that Annuar invoked the Land Acquisition Act 1960, which gave the developer the right to the land despite over 100 land and homeowners having disagreed with the plan.
"They were concerned with the developer's financial ability and the possibility that the project would be abandoned. Because they disagreed with the offer, the owners were not given the replacement houses that were promised. And now they are demanding compensation, not another house,” he said.
About 100 owners have rejected the offer and their houses were forcibly taken away using the land acquisition law, he added.
Khalid said Annuar was later replaced by Shahidan Kassim as the minister, and the latter continued his predecessor's plan by allowing the land acquisition process to be completed.
He noted that the offer made to those who disagreed with the deal at that time was between RM450 and RM500 per square foot, as per valuation done by the Valuation and Property Services Department, which is a government agency.
"This was very confusing and raised questions because when I was the minister, I announced land valuation for legally owned plots under the MAS (Malay Agricultural Settlement) status. The value was between RM650 and RM800 per square foot, depending on the location of the plot.
"But all of a sudden, the value had gone down so much when the valuation was done for Kampung Sungai Baru, which at the time was not even under MAS status.
"The issue about MAS status has only been raised recently, but if the land area was not under MAS status, the department should have assessed a higher value. But instead, the valuation was lower.”
"They were concerned with the developer's financial ability and the possibility that the project would be abandoned. Because they disagreed with the offer, the owners were not given the replacement houses that were promised. And now they are demanding compensation, not another house,” he said.
About 100 owners have rejected the offer and their houses were forcibly taken away using the land acquisition law, he added.
Khalid said Annuar was later replaced by Shahidan Kassim as the minister, and the latter continued his predecessor's plan by allowing the land acquisition process to be completed.
He noted that the offer made to those who disagreed with the deal at that time was between RM450 and RM500 per square foot, as per valuation done by the Valuation and Property Services Department, which is a government agency.
"This was very confusing and raised questions because when I was the minister, I announced land valuation for legally owned plots under the MAS (Malay Agricultural Settlement) status. The value was between RM650 and RM800 per square foot, depending on the location of the plot.
"But all of a sudden, the value had gone down so much when the valuation was done for Kampung Sungai Baru, which at the time was not even under MAS status.
"The issue about MAS status has only been raised recently, but if the land area was not under MAS status, the department should have assessed a higher value. But instead, the valuation was lower.”
He stated that this was something that should be investigated, but still nothing has been done.
Khalid said the opposition should stop pretending to be defenders of the villagers when they were the ones allegedly responsible for the problem.
"You just kept quiet back then, both from PAS or Bersatu, either Muhyiddin, Tuan Ibrahim do not try to blame other parties or just one or two of their former ministers, when the fact is, they did not defend the villagers when they needed help," he said.
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