KUALA LUMPUR – An offer of RM5 billion by the previous Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration to Semantan Estate Sdn Bhd (SESB) to settle the Jalan Duta enclave land dispute is too excessive, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Tambun-PH) told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Speaking during the ministerial question time, Anwar said such excessive amounts of compensation could set a precedent and put other public interest land in jeopardy.
Currently, the Tambun MP said the federal government is negotiating with SESB over the Jalan Duta enclave dispute, and a recommendation was put forth to let go of untouched land on the condition they are developed with the cooperation of government companies.
“While negotiation continues for fair compensation, there can’t be an expectation to get excessive profits from public interest projects,” Anwar said today.
The prime minister also pointed out that the Attorney-General’s Chambers is in the process of drafting laws to ensure such land disputes do not occur again.
One of the laws the government is looking to amend is the Land Acquisition Act 1960, he added.
In 2003, SESB filed a suit on grounds that the federal government failed to follow procedure when it acquired 263 acres of land in Jalan Duta in a bid to develop a diplomatic enclave in the 1950s.
Six years later, judge Zura Yahya delivered her judgment that the government did not take the land lawfully and remained in wrongful possession.
This decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court in challenges brought by the government, but Semantan Estate has contended that the government has failed to comply with the ruling.
In 2017, Semantan Estate filed another action at the Kuala Lumpur High Court to enforce Zura’s judgment.
On August 7 this year, high court judge Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh ruled in Semantan Estate’s favour, ordering the government to return possession of the land.
The Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Land Registrar has filed a stay-of-execution pending an appeal against the high court’s ruling.
The decision was deemed a matter of national interest as the land in question now houses several public buildings such as the Tun Razak Hockey Stadium, the Malaysian Institute of Integrity, the National Archives, the Kuala Lumpur shariah courts, the government complex building along Jalan Duta (the Inland Revenue Board building) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy. – October 29, 2024