UDA Holdings confirmed that the whole plaza would be torn down to make way for a rail transit station.
(FMT) - Uda Holdings Bhd confirmed today that its shopping mall Bukit Bintang Plaza (BBP) would be demolished to pave the way for the construction of a massive rail transit station.
This means all traders occupying the mall will be evicted by year-end despite My Rapid Transit (MRT) Corp’s earlier statement that only a portion of the complex would be affected by the project.
“That’s what the MRTCorp told you [media]. What they told us is that BBP would be demolished. All of us, including Uda Holdings office, would be asked to vacate by year-end,” Uda Holdings senior vice-president Syed Ahmad Nazri Syed Kamaruzaman told a press conference.
Uda Holdings had earlier held a dialogue on the issue with the mall tenants at its office here.
Uda Holdings chairman Nur Jazlan Mohamed had said that the redevelopment of the mall, situated at the heart of the city’s primary shopping district, would be a setback to the “Bumiputera agenda” as 60% of the traders there are Malays.
BB Plaza houses a majority of Malay businesses while Chinese businessmen run their companies in the adjoining Sungei Wang Plaza.
It was reported earlier this month that MRT Corp plans to clear out BB Plaza’s tenants by 2013 to make way for the construction of the massive underground station, which will begin with the building’s foyer and the adjoining Yayasan Selangor building.
But MRT Corp CEO Azhar Abdul Hamid said in a statement issued later that the government has no plans to acquire BB Plaza, as feared.
“There was a miscommunication,” group managing director Ahmad Abu Bakar explained when asked to clarify on the conflicting reports.
Traders earlier today voiced their displeasure with the move after a meeting with Uda Holdings representative earlier this morning and accused the company of “whitewashing” the issue.
They claimed Uda Holdings was deliberately “allowing” MRT Corp to take over the building “without putting up a fight”.
Some of them have been issued the notice to vacate their front premises by the weekend as work on the project is scheduled to begin by July 2.
