MRT tunnel project will not Jeopardise properties

Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) assured the public, particularly land and property owners that the construction of the mass railway project will not in any way jeopardise their properties. MRT Corp Project Director Marcus Karakashian said steps would be taken to study the infrastructure of the properties before the construction of the Sungai Buloh to Kajang My Rapid Transit tunnel project commences. The government-linked company has been set up to implement the 51 km railway project, which is one of the country's largest projects under the Economic Transformation Programme to transform Malaysia into a high-income economy by 2020. However, MRT Corp has been facing problems with land and property owners in Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Sultan (China Town) in Kuala Lumpur. Occupants have been requested to relocate for a maximum of six months with fair compensation to be paid during the period. "We will have a look at the properties' condition for any damages such as cracks.. whether they are stable, the beam conditions. If we need to do any repairs, we will do that...there is no intention of demolishment," Karakashian told reporters here. He stressed that MRT Corp were not risk takers but sensitive to public concern. Owners need to just relocate for the tunnelling work to commence and their properties will not be demolished or taken over. "We have to make sure the buildings are safe and if cracks or any sort of damages are found in the properties, it will be rectified before the project implementation takes place. "We will discuss with the owners and we will let them have a copy of the condition survey. "And if any damages appear after the tunnelling work begins, MRT Corp will address or repair the problem areas at our cost," he added. The first MRT line which has 31 stations requires tunneling works through Klang Valley's karstic limestone, the Kenny Hill formation and granite. The Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) tunnel boring machine (TBM) would be used to tunnel the Kenny Hill formation and Slurry TBM for the karstic limestone, Marcus said adding that there were four good locations the machines could be placed. He said there would be slight amount of settlement but assured there would be no issue of collapsing. "My job is to build the railways with less disruption but we have to work together. "Owners will have to vacate but we attempt to finish as fast as possible," he added. Roads would not be affected by the tunneling works, thus there would be no be road closures. However, MRT Corp would have people on the surface to be alert for any problems.