City Hall will not allow the abandoned Plaza Rakyat to become an eyesore.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sat:

The contractor for the abandoned Plaza Rakyat in Jalan Pudu has two months to revive the project or City Hall will appoint a new builder to complete the job.

Federal Territories Ministry parliamentary secretary Yew Teong Look said City Hall would issue a notice of rectification, and if Plaza Rakyat Sdn Bhd did not come up with fresh proposals to revive the project it would be the end of the road for them.

"City Hall will give them the notice of termination after that," Yew said in the parliament lobby on Thursday after fielding questions from Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun on the project.

Yew said PRSB had been given several extensions since they inked a deal to build Plaza Rakyat in December 1992. It was to have been completed in 1999.

However, the financial crisis in 1997 saw the project run into difficulty and construction work stopped.

The Plaza Rakyat is adjacent to the Puduraya bus terminal. Six floors of the basement were completed before work stopped.

A Star-LRT station was completed and is in use. Two tunnels linking the Pudu area to the Plaza Rakyat area were also completed and are in use.

Yew said PRSB sought an extension from March 31 last year to May 31 this year but little was done.

The Bukit Bintang MP, who had raised the subject repeatedly over the last few years, raised the issue again in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday.

He said there were two issues which had to be addressed by the authorities: The lot of those who had bought into the project and the maintenance of the abandoned site.

"There are many who had invested in Plaza Rakyat and are now servicing loans for properties they have not received or look like occupying in for some time to come," Fong said.

He said maintenance of the site was also of concern to the public.

"It can be a breeding ground for the Aedes mosquitoes like the Plaza CN Gallery site in Jalan Imbi which was identified as an Aedes breeding ground."

Yew acknowledged the plight of the buyers.

"City Hall is concerned about the 211 buyers of the shoplots. Whatever issues there are will be resolved through the legal process."

Yew said City Hall would not let Plaza Rakyat become an eyesore or a breeding ground for aedes.