Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abd Samad said yesterday the estimates for compensation to cancel the Rimba Kiara condominium project was based on a suit filed by developers.
Khalid told Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh that developers had asked for RM150 million in damages and compensation in a suit filed against the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), when the authorities had revoked the project’s approval.
“The cost is based on my understanding of what the developers had filed for,” Khalid, who is also the Shah Alam MP, said in a statement.
“However, I was made to understand that the Court would ultimately decide the cost.”
Yeoh, a deputy minister, said yesterday she was shocked by Khalid’s claim that cancelling the project would cost RM150 million, calling the figure “imaginary”.
“This alleged ‘RM150 million compensation’ is an imaginary figure and needs to be supported by receipts or proof of payment for the alleged transactions,” she said.
The Segambut MP has campaigned fiercely to have the project cancelled.
On Monday (March 25), an angry Yeoh said the entire Taman Rimba Kiara “must not be touched for development”.
Khalid said he saw Yeoh’s criticism as her merely doing her job as MP.
“I understand that YB Hannah is representing the views of her constituents,” he said.
“It was a pledge made before the 14th General Election. But her claim that the RM150 million cost is imaginary/mythical is inaccurate.”
Khalid reportedly said DBKL would be the one footing the compensation bill, as it had granted the development order to the developer.
The Star reported Khalid as saying that the proposed project has been scaled down from the initial 4.9 hectares to 3.2 hectares, with half of it to be for the longhouse residents’ housing and the other half already rezoned for use as mixed development. – Malay Mail
Earlier report: Mar 26, Hannah Yeoh Slams ‘Imaginary’ RM150M Taman Rimba Kiara Park Compensation