KUALA LUMPUR (April 1): Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) has refuted the opposition’s claims that it needs to acquire land in Bandar Malaysia from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) at inflated prices for the MRT Line 2 project, hence potentially bailing out the debt-laden fund.

Bandar Malaysia is 1MDB’s yet-to-be developed property project, in which the proposed Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line (SSP) line, also called the MRT Line 2, is to pass through.

MRT Corp has come out with a clarification after DAP lawmaker Tony Pua said the realignment of the SSP line is set to benefit 1MDB, as the MRT project company would have to acquire land from it to build the line.

On this, MRT Corp strategic communication and public relations director Amir Mahmood Razak has explained that the company will most likely take the mutual agreement route for its SSP line, as it did for its Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) line.

“The SSP Line is underground at this location and given that the land [Bandar Malaysia] belongs to a government-owned entity (1MDB), it is likely that we will take the approach of the mutual agreement route we took with the SBK Line,” he said in a statement.

According to previous reports, under the mutual agreement route, landowners would reportedly continue to hold rights to their property, provided they agree to vacate the area for six months to facilitate tunnelling work for the project. This means that MRT Corp will not have to acquire land in Bandar Malaysia, but to co-exist with it.

“[For instance], the mutual agreement route that we took with properties in Jalan Sultan and Jalan Inai in Kuala Lumpur for the SBK Line, saved the government some RM1.4 billion,” said Amir.

He said since the project has not started, there cannot be costs or budget overruns pertaining to the proposed SSP Line.

“The realignment will have a marginally longer underground section, which means less land acquisition.

“Furthermore, there is a reduction of the elevated section by almost 10 kilometres, and a reduction of elevated stations. These reductions will offset any additional cost which may result from a marginally longer underground section,” he said.

He also clarified that all proposed alignments of the SSP Line remain as options and have not been finalised.

“The alignment can only be finalised, after it has gone through the public display exercise and subsequently approved by the government,” he said.

The new proposed alignment option for the SSP line involves a change in the section between Tun Razak Exchange, which is also a 1MDB development, and Seri Kembangan stations, serving Kuchai Lama, Sri Petaling, Sungai Besi and Serdang Raya.