Railway land controversy: Dubious land transfers

K Pragalath | March 1, 2012

Lawyer P Uthayakumar revealed that there was 'no record' of a transaction between Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Sentul) Berhad to Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of YTL Corporation.

KUALA LUMPUR: Three land transactions involving Kampung Railway in Sentul were conducted within a span of an hour on Sept 24, 2002.

Describing the transactions as dubious, lawyer P Uthayakumar said: “The Land Office records indicated that three transactions happened within an hour on Sept 24, 2002.”

In the first transaction, Federal Land Commissioner transferred the land to Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sdn Bhd at 10.08 am.

At 10.31 am, Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sdn Bhd transferred the land to Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Sentul) Berhad.

The third transaction was a fund mortgage from Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd to Aseam Bankers at 10.52am.

Speaking after a case management hearing involving Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (subsidiary of YTL Corporation) and 100 over residents of Kampung Railway today, Uthayakumar said there was however “no record that shows the transfer from Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Sentul) Berhad to Sentul Raya.”

Uthayakumar is representing 101 residents of Kampung Railway. Sentul Raya is represented by their counsel, B Thangaraj.

Another group of 23 people are intervenors represented by Rashid Zulkifli.

Earlier during the hearing in the chambers, senior assistant registrar Norhatim Abdul Hamid said the next hearing would be on April 4 under presiding High Court judge Justice Zabariah Yusof.

On Tuesday, a group of Kampung Railway residents sent a protest memorandum to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). They said the case in court was detrimental to their ongoing negotiations with YTL Corporation and DBKL.