RM10 billion plan to transform Klang, PJ and Kajang

Taken from the New Straits Times on 16 March 2009...

KLANG: The Selangor government has allocated RM10 billion for the redevelopment of Klang, Petaling Jaya and Kajang over the next five to seven years.

This is part of the state's efforts to give a boost to the sluggish economy, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said yesterday.

The allocation for the three areas was logical and comparable to the RM3 billion spent for the redevelopment of Damansara, he said after launching the Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor (Selangor Economy for the Citizenry) seminar at the Land and District Office complex here.

"A historical district like Klang has several places which are now no longer suitable in today's setting.

"While we have to preserve old buildings, the town has to be redesigned to create a new city centre."
Khalid said when the Klang river was cleaned up and revived, the historical town would have its much-needed focal point.

"We have to create a sense of arrival in Klang. We have a beautiful palace but its location is isolated.

"Some people don't even realise that they are in Klang until after they have passed the town."

Khalid said a seminar on the redevelopment of Klang would be held next month.

This meeting, of local and international town and country planners, will include a young Malay expert based in Florida and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology lecturer.

Khalid said he had received an offer from an international financier to source public sector funding for the project.

On the Klang Sentral bus terminal, he said the government had not yet decided whether to accept NPO Development Sdn Bhd's offer to sell it to the state.

"If it is necessary, we would buy it, but it would be at cost," he added.