KUALA LUMPUR: Ahead of the unveiling of the final master plan next week for the redevelopment of Kampung Baru, a century-old Malay settlement in the heart of capital city Kuala Lumpur, some villagers are still adamant about staying put and are against the modernisation of their village.

Kampung Baru has long been coveted by developers for its high-value land and strategic location in the Malaysian capital, spread incongruously over 153ha amidst gleaming skyscrapers and just kilometres away from the iconic Petronas Twin Towers.

Various efforts over the past 30 years to modernise and redevelop the village have been met with resistance, mainly from landowners and villagers who will not move for any price.

These sentiments remain among a few villagers, despite reports that the majority have agreed to redevelopment plans for their historical settlement.

“Why should I move? This is my family land which has been handed down to me by previous generations,” said a Kampung Baru resident who only wanted to be known as Liza.

“If I were to move, where would I go? This is my home village; it is where I grew up,” the 63-year-old told The Malaysian Insider.

Liza is a third-generation resident who grew up in Kampung Melayu Atas, which is located in Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, one of seven small villages that make up the greater Kampung Baru.

Living with her four children, Liza is adamant that she will not sign any agreement although she has been offered lucrative figures to sell her land.

“I will not sell this land; it is a promise to my forefathers that I would not sell the land,” she said.

“This trust was given to me and I have to uphold it,” she said as she questioned the reason for developing Kampung Baru.

“Why do they want to develop one of the last Malay villages in the heart of Kuala Lumpur? What are their true intentions?”

Kampung Baru was established 110 years ago and is administered by the Malay Agricultural Settlement Administration Board, which is responsible for the welfare and interests of landowners in the settlement.

In 2011, the government approved the Kampung Baru Development Body 2011, a piece of legislation to govern the redevelopment of the Malay community.

In September last year, the Kampung Baru Development Corporation (KBDC) said it had received positive response from 88% of landowners who had agreed to plans to develop the area. KBDC had also tabled a draft of the Kampung Baru development master plan to the villagers. KBDC chairman Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz was reported as saying that the master plan would be included in the Draft KL City Plan 2020, and with 88% of villagers agreeing to the plan, the redevelopment would begin soon.

The complete and finalised master plan is to be launched by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Jan 15. It is also learnt that some 30 government-linked companies will be invited to the launch which will also include a dialogue about the plan.

However, 50-year-old Yusop Sukarnan, a landowner in Kampung Baru, said many things about the villagers’ future was still unclear.— The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 12, 2015.