“The government should not arbitrarily make an offer without first ensuring that it can finance it,” Johari Ghani (BN-Titiwangsa) said during ministers’ question time in the Dewan Rakyat.

Johari said making such offers would only “confuse” the residents of Kampung Baru, and claimed that previous administrations had made offers without Cabinet approval.

In 2019, then federal territories minister Khalid Samad said the government would offer Kampung Baru residents RM1,000 psf to acquire 230 acres of land as part of its efforts to redevelop the area.

This raised questions over the feasibility of the proposed price as it would involve some RM10 billion.

“The previous government made an offer as if it had the money, so the residents were excited.

“But the money for the offer was not set aside. How did the minister make an offer? So I hope this doesn’t happen again.”

Responding to this, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim conceded that the government did not have even RM7 billion available for the redevelopment at this point in time.

He gave his assurance that any project involving large sums of money will first be brought to the finance ministry and the Cabinet for approval before proceeding.

He also said that the government was looking at the best way to redevelop the Malay enclave, keeping in mind the interests of the community,

Anwar also said he will not compromise on the property rights of the landowners.