KAMPUNG BUNGA RAYA PANTAI TO BE RE-DEVELOPED. RESIDENTS GIVEN UNTIL 1.4.2010 TO MOVE OUT

Land for redevelopment
Story and photo by CHEN PELF YEEN

MALACCA: The state will fork out RM1.45mil in compensation to 42 property owners and tenants in Kampung Bunga Raya Pantai following the acquisition of an area next to Malacca River for redevelopment.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the residents and two temples in the area had agreed to move out of the 1.8ha plot acquired from Shaw Brothers recently.

Demolition work in progress at Kampung Bunga Raya Pantai in Malacca recently. The residents have been given until April next year to move out of the area.

Besides compensating the owners, the state will provide gratuitous payments of RM2,000 each to tenants occupying semi-wooden dwellings, he said when met at the village here on Tuesday.

To assist the affected families, the state would help source homes for them to rent temporarily, he added.

“We are willing to build low-cost flats for them but they have to wait for a year or more for it to be completed.

“In the meantime, the state will help them look for houses to rent if they want,” he said.

Work to demolish several vacant houses would start immediately while the residents were given until April 1 next year to move out, he said.

Mohd Ali and Malacca MCA deputy chairman Datuk Gan Tian Loo met more than 50 residents over plans to redevelop the area.

The redevelopment would include the construction of a hotel, commercial lots and an aquarium to complement efforts to beautify Malacca River.

Mohd Ali said RM96,000 was paid to the 19th-century Hai Long Gong Temple which had agreed to relocate to a nearby vacant plot while Tian Boon Tong Temple was compensated with RM28,000.

Meanwhile, resident Tang Siew Hoog, 35, said he was happy with the outcome of negotiations with state officials.

Besides being paid reasonable compensation, the residents could spend Chinese New Year in the village before vacating, he said.

Webmaster: If it is not mistaken, this is the land near to former Federal Cinema which is now owned Berjaya Land. With the mixed development coming up including a shopping mall, Tourism Melaka hopes the planners will conserve the "Ruins of Rozario" besides Federal Cinema. This is an heritage and historical site of Melaka.