Khalid said everyone involved stood to lose out if the talks continued with the Act forcibly applied.

“It is my understanding that federal territories minister Shahidan Kassim has requested for an independent party to assess the status of the land here.

“According to him, the results of the evaluation will be released within a week. But it is odd that provisions of the Land Acquisition Act are still in place while these negotiations go on.

“If you want to negotiate, do not use the Act and withdraw the eviction notices issued to residents,” he said at a press conference with residents of Kampung Sungai Baru today.

On April 9, residents of low-cost flats in parts of Kampung Baru complained of being evicted just a month before Hari Raya and of being offered “a puny sum” as compensation.

They said the eviction notices were pasted on their doors without indicating when they would have to move out.

However, earlier this week, Shahidan had assured the residents that they would not have to move soon.

“There will be no eviction during the fasting month and it is also not possible to move after Raya,” he said, adding that negotiations between the developer and the residents’ representatives were ongoing to find the best solution for both parties.

Khalid, who is Shah Alam MP, said the government must ensure a reasonable amount of compensation is provided to the residents to allow them to sustain a decent quality of life.

“The compensation must be increased because this is premium land. The amount offered must also be reasonable.”

The residents had previously said the amount of compensation offered was low compared to the current land value.

Most of them were offered RM240,000 to RM260,000, which was too little to buy another home in Kuala Lumpur, let alone somewhere within Kampung Baru.