KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — The government will make better offers for 89 hectares of Malay agricultural settlement land in Kampung Baru that is currently divided into 879 lots for redevelopment.

According to a Berita Harian report, the offer will be made during a meeting with the landowners in Dewan Felda in Jalan Maktab in September that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will attend.

Kampung Baru Development Authority (PKB) chief executive Zulkurnain Hassan told the Malay daily that the offer price will be announced on the day itself but would not elaborate except to say it will be attractive.

Currently, price for land in the area is between RM300 per square foot (psf) to RM800 psf.

"Right now we are positive that the owners will agree with the government offer based on our previous surveys.

"We have sent letters to 5,700 landowners asking their views on Kampung Baru’s redevelopment. From that figure, we received 1,356 replies and from that, 88 per cent or 1,193 agreed with the redevelopment proposal.

"We have also met and spoken with the PKB members and our consultants and many of them said that the government’s proposal is a positive one,” he reportedly said.

Kampung Baru covers 121 hectares of land, including 89 hectares located in the Golden Triangle gazetted as agricultural land.

The remaining 22 hectares outside of the agricultural settlement includes the Raja Bot area, PKNS Sungai Baru housing area, PKNS Jalan Tun Razak flat, a 17 storey PKNS flat and Wisma Perkeso.

In total, there are 1,346 lots with 879 lots inside the agricultural settlement while 467 lots, including Chow Kit, lies outside the zone.

Zulkurnain said the announcement will be made to the land owners as early as next month and it will also be published in newspapers.

For the September meeting, PKB will only invite landowners who have registered with the agency.

"Those who have not registered can attend the meeting but they must show proof to us that they own the land there.

"We will also invite government linked companies (GLC) or Malay companies to attend this meeting. The fact that the prime minister has agreed to attend and address the crowd shows the government’s commitment to redevelop Kampung Baru,” he reportedly said.

Zulkurnain added that the owners will be given the option to fully cash out or accept payment in the form of properties.

He hopes that the locals will take payment in the form of properties there so that when the area is redeveloped, the original owners of Kampung Baru will not disappear.