PETALING JAYA: Questions over appeals by Jalan Sultan land owners to realign the Klang Valley My Rapid Transit (KVMRT) project were swiftly side-stepped by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) on Tuesday.

“You shouldn’t ask us. We’re the wrong party for you to ask. What we’ve done is to approve the (line), the rest of it is up to the developer and operator to sort out,” said SPAD chairperson Tan Sri Syed Hamid Syed Jaafar Albar.

He said the commission had done “what’s necessary” and the Jalan Sultan traders had three months to submit their feedback on the alignment during the public consultation period last year.

“Land acquisition doesn’t involve us. You should speak to MRT Corp,” Syed Hamid told reporters at the launch of SPAD’s enforcement division building at Persada Plus on Tuesday.

SPAD enforcement officers celebrate having their own operations centre at Persada Plus in Petaling Jaya.

MRT Corporation had issued an ultimatum to Jalan Sultan land owners to sign the mutual agreement with the company by Wednesday or the government would have to undertake compulsory land acquisition.

Land owners are worried that their properties would be seized for the project as they had received acquisition notices from the Land and Mines Department.

However, MRT Corporation chief executive officer Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid assured the traders that they would continue to hold property rights under the mutual agreement.

He added that the traders would need to vacate their premises for six months for tunnelling work but they would be fairly compensated for the relocation.

Azhar said only two of the owners at the historical street had yet to sign the mutual agreement.

Despite that, the Committee for the Preservation of Jalan Sultan is still hoping the authorities would realign the KVMRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang line to Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock.

Committee chairperson Stanley Yong had said on Monday that they would resort to “physically” stopping the construction work if necessary.

Several protests and signature campaigns have been carried out since last year to protest against land acquisition in Jalan Sultan over fears that the historical buildings would be demolished.