BB Plaza compensation projected at RM370m

UDA Holdings Bhd hopes that a fair and commensurate compensation will be offered by MRT Corp Bhd to the affected party and Bumiputera traders if its building, Bukit Bintang Plaza (BB Plaza), has to be demolished.

There is a possibility that the plaza including a part of the Yayasan Selangor building will be demolished to make way for the building of an underground station under the government's mega project, My Rapid Transit.

UDA's Chairman, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said if the BB Plaza is demolished, the company stood to lose 25 per cent or RM20-RM25 million of its annual revenue comprising rental collections from its lots in the building.

"Nevertheless, what also concerns us is the potential losses to the Bumiputera traders who would be affected throughout the implementation of the MRT project which is estimated to take four to five years," he told reporters after launching the transformation of UDA's information technology system.

Todate, 150 retailers or 60 per cent of the retailers in BB Plaza are Bumiputeras.

"We have also projected that the fair amount of compensation to be paid out for demolishing the building should be in the region of RM370 million," Nur Jazlan said.

He said the plaza would also be its third building to be surrendered to MRT Corp in making way for the MRT.

Other two buildings that have already made way are the UO Superstore and Plaza Warisan.

"We had received RM80 million for those two buildings from MRT Corp even if the property value for the buildings currently stands at RM120 million. This however is a sacrifice made by UDA to ensure that the government's economic develoment plan is successfully carried out."

Nur Jazlan also said that no definite date has been given on when MRT Corp would be taking over the building as it was still under discussion.

Nonetheless, any decision would depend on the Ministry of Finance which is the ultimate owner of UDA, he said.

On the transformation of UDA's information system which is to cost RM13 million, Nur Jazlan said it was part of UDA's efforts to provide more efficient services to its clients.

By Bernama